NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned Wednesday that countries such as Brazil, China and India could be hit "very hard" by secondary sanctions if they continue to do business with Russia.
Rutte made his statements during a meeting with members of the US Senate, a day after President Donald Trump announced he would supply Ukraine with new weapons and impose "caustic" secondary tariffs of 100% on buyers of Russian export goods if a peace agreement is not reached within 50 days.
"My advice to these three countries is: if you live in Beijing now, or in Delhi, or if you are the president of Brazil, take a good look at this, because this could hit you very hard," Rutte said. "So call Vladimir Putin and tell him to get serious about peace negotiations, because otherwise this will hit Brazil, India and China hard."
Rutte further stated that Europe will find the necessary resources to put Ukraine in the best possible position for peace talks. Under the agreement with the United States, the US will provide "massive" weapons, not only air defense, but also missiles and ammunition funded by European countries.
