Putin says Europe will 'stand at the feet of the master' as Trump's tariffs alarm allies
Russia's Vladimir Putin warned Europe will quickly "stand at the feet of the master" after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, provoking a global markets meltdown and alarm among European allies.
Following Trump's decision at the weekend to impose trade duties on America's closest trading partners, Russian President Putin said Sunday that Trump's second administration would "restore order" in Europe.
"I assure you: Trump, with his character, with his persistence, he will restore order there quite quickly. 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," Putin told pro-Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin, who presents the primetime "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on the Rossiya-1 state TV channel. The comments were reported by state news agency RIA Novosti and translated by Google.
Putin did not give any further explanation as to how Trump could "restore order" — and it's uncertain what he was referring to with his comments — but Moscow has expressed hopes that its own relationship with the U.S. could improve under Trump.
The Kremlin on Monday said it was watching on as "tensions" build between the U.S. and its allies.
"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 his daily press briefing.
"Let those countries that are participating in this process sort it out," he said, according to comments reported by RIA Novosti, and translated by Reuters.
Trump sent global markets into a tailspin Monday after he announced a