Trump sells the EU more energy and protection, muscling Russia out

Tariffs of 50 percent, which Trump previously imposed on European aluminium and steel, will also remain, while the European Union will not impose any reciprocal tariffs.

The bloc also committed to spending $250bn a year on US energy exports over and above present levels until 2027, and “hundreds of billions of dollars” on US weapons.

The deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, called the deal “anti-Russian” since it appeared to seize what was, before the Ukraine war, Russia’s biggest energy market.

The next day, Trump shortened a 50-day deadline he had issued to Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 14 to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine.

“I’m going to make a new deadline of about … 10 or 12 days from today,” Trump told reporters, pulling the deadline back from September 2 to about August 9.

A third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine last week produced no ceasefire, only another exchange of prisoners of war.

For the first time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed his negotiators to seek the return of Ukrainian children Russia has abducted from occupied territories since the start of the war. Kremlin new