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US expert doubts Trump plan to fund Kiev via China tariffs feasible

"This policy is doomed from the outset because Trump's plan relies on whether Europe agrees to stop buying Russian oil and gas," Eddie Gonzales said

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump’s plan to rely on new tariffs on Chinese imports to boost support for Ukraine is unlikely to work, said Eddie Gonzales, a US political commentator and host of the Russia Up Close talk show, doubting that Europe would take similar steps.

"This policy is doomed from the outset because Trump's plan relies on whether Europe agrees to stop buying Russian oil and gas. And he knows that Europe cannot afford it. They just simply can't," the expert told TASS in an interview.

"Trump is shifting <...> the blame when this policy doesn't go through, when it falls apart. He can blame it on the Europeans by saying, well, I tried, but Europe didn’t agree," he explained. Gonzales said this policy is bound to fail from the start. "And everyone knows it, especially the Europeans," he added.

Earlier, The Telegraph reported, citing sources, that Trump had instructed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to propose creating a Ukraine victory plan financed by new 500% tariffs on China ahead of Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to Washington on October 17.