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President Donald Trump doubled down on his demand that European nations cease all energy purchases from Russia as he mulls his first ever sanctions on Moscow since re-entering office amid its war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters Sunday evening, Trump said European nations, especially those in NATO, are not doing enough to counter Russia, despite the new round of sanctions enacted by the EU last week.
“They’re not doing the job. NATO has to get together. Europe has to get together,” Trump said. “Europe…they’re my friends, but they’re buying oil from Russia, so we can’t be expected to be the only ones that are, you know, full bore.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Airport in New Jersey on Sept. 14, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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“Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don’t want them to buy oil,” he continued, noting that the sanctions Europe has issued on Russia and Russian officials “are not tough enough.”
“I’m willing to do sanctions, but they’re going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I’m doing,” Trump confirmed.
While European nations have drastically cut their reliance on Moscow’s oil following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, they have not cut it off entirely – particularly nations like Hungary, Slovakia, France, Belgium and Spain, which are Europe’s top importers of Russian energy.
Hungary – whose president remains friendly with Putin despite being a NATO nation – is Europe’s chief importer of Russian crude oil and pipeline gas, purchasing more than double any other European nation’s Russian energy imports.
France, which is the second-largest European purchaser of Russian energy, continues to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) which has largely bypassed EU sanctions, in part due to longstanding legally binding commitments.
These agreements mean Paris has committed to “take-or-pay” contracts through the early 2030s or face arbitration or penalties. Though reporting suggests the LNG imports are not only slated for French consumption and are being passed on to third-party nations like Germany.
Fire at the oil base in Proletarsk, Rostov region in Russia, following two drone attacks on Aug. 18, 2024. (Photo provided by East2West)
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Last month, the EU’s Data Protection Authority confirmed that the bloc had imported nearly $5.2 billion worth of Russian LNG in the first half of 2025.
Trump’s comments came just one day after he sent a letter to NATO that said he is “ready to do major sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO nations stop buying oil from Russia,” according to a post he made on Truth Social.
But when asked on Sunday about his plans to hit Russia with additional U.S. sanctions – which have not been expanded since the Biden administration – he suggested Europe might need to stop all LNG imports as well.
The president claimed that all Russian imports are supposed to be barred at this time and said, “The deal is, they’re not supposed – whether it’s natural gas or whether it’s cigarettes, I don’t care – they’re not supposed to be buying from Russia.”
The president didn’t expand on which deal he was referring to, and he didn’t comment on the U.S.’s $2.1 billion worth of Russian imports it has purchased in the first five months of 2025, largely consisting of enriched uranium, palladium, and fertilizers.
President Donald Trump, right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, arrive for a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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In addition, he called on NATO allies to hit China with “50% to 100% tariffs” that he said would be withdrawn only after the war in Ukraine concluded – a rate which is currently higher than the 30% tariffs Washington has slapped on Bejing, though which could significantly expand given Trump’s recent threats to hit China with tariffs as high as 200%.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions regarding this reporting.