Putin on Trump Tariffs: EU Will Stand at 'Feet of the Master'

After President Donald Trump signed an order imposing steep tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Europe will soon "stand at the feet of the master."

Trump's weekend order to impose duties on America's closest trading partners sparked global market anxiety and fueled alarm among European allies.

"I assure you: Trump, with his character, with his persistence, he will restore order there quite quickly," Putin said Sunday in comments reported by state news agency RIA Novosti and translated by Google. "And all of them, you will see — it will happen quickly, soon — they will all stand at the feet of the master and will wag their tails a little. Everything will fall into place."

While it's unclear exactly what the Russian leader was referring to, and he did not elaborate further on how Trump could "restore order," Moscow has expressed optimism that its relationship with the United States could be reset during Trump's second term.

On Monday, the Kremlin said it was observing "tensions" build between the U.S. and its allies, and it expressed "no desire" to involve itself in the matter.

"You know, there are many tensions there, so, of course, we have no desire to be associated with all this in any way or to evaluate it in any way," Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters in comments reported by RIA Novosti. "Let those countries that are participating in this process sort it out."

After the White House announced that a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on imports from China would take effect on Tuesday, Trump said he was pausing his planned tariffs against Mexico on Monday after a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

During her call with Trump, the Mexican head of state reportedly committed to sending 10,000 members of her country's national guard to the border to combat drug trafficking.

Trump warned that tariffs against the European Union could come "pretty soon" but said that a deal might be reached with the United Kingdom, which has a more balanced trading relationship with the U.S. than its other trading partners.

In his comments on Sunday, Putin criticized European leaders for lacking the courage of their convictions, saying that former leaders on the continent, such as France's Charles De Gaulle and Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder, "had their own opinion and the courage to fight for this opinion, to express it, to talk about it, and to try to at least implement it in practical work."

"Today, there are practically no such people there," Putin said, according to RIA Novosti.

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