Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intervention on Wednesday, when a Polish reporter questioned whether the president had done enough to pressure him into putting an end to Russia’s hostility in Ukraine, at a time when Europe and Ukraine are trying to persuade Trump to impose sanctions or other punitive measures against Russia as Moscow continues to invade Ukraine.
He then pushed back at the reporter, listing measures he’d taken against Russian and threatening consequences if Moscow did not agree to peace.
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The interaction came just a day before Trump spoke with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he met with European leaders on Thursday in a separate European summit in Paris to discuss security reassurances for Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy has not yet been disclosed in detail.
What are the current findings from Trump’s second US presidency regarding how effectively this conflict has been resolved.
Didn’t Trump promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war in just a day?
Yes . In fact, the president has vowed to end a number of global conflicts and has argued that his efforts merit recognition.
But, despite promising repeatedly during his election campaign last year that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of resuming the US presidency, the war rages on.
The two parties are still far from reaching a truce as several territorial concessions-related discussions continue.
Trump has pushed for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, but it hasn’t happened, with Ukraine accusing Russia of abstaining in order to prolong the conflict.
At the end of his visit to China on Wednesday this week, however, Putin stated that while he was not against such a meeting, there might not be any point to it. Andrii Sybiha, the country’s foreign minister, has vehemently rejected his suggestion to meet with Zelenskyy in Moscow.
What has Trump said this week about Putin?
President Trump made the comments about Putin following a meeting with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who was in the US to seek more American troop presence in his country, which borders Ukraine, in case of a Russian incursion into its own territory.
At the press conference that followed the meeting, Trump gave a detailed account of his efforts to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine. The US president, however, clearly reacted when a reporter suggested that he had not done enough to pressure Putin into ending the conflict in Ukraine.
He pushed back at the suggestion, saying he had done several things. Trump added that if Moscow didn’t follow Putin’s lead, there would be consequences and that he would continue to press him into making a decision.
Trump said, “We’ll either be happy or unhappy with whatever his decision is,” referring to Putin. “And if we’re unhappy about it, you’ll see things happen”, he said, without gving details of potential consequences.
Trump also made a number of repeats of his previous assertions that Israel and Iran had won seven wars, including those involving Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, India, Thailand, and Cambodia. He continued, adding that he had initially believed that the friendly relations between Putin and him would make it easier to press him into bringing the Ukraine war to an end.
“But you never know with war … I have no message to President Putin. When Trump was questioned about his communication with the Russian leader, Trump responded, “He knows where I stand, and he’ll make a decision either way.”
What steps has Trump taken to impose sanctions on Russia?
Tariffs against India
Trump cited the high trade tariffs he has imposed on India for buying Russian oil as one of his methods of pressure on Putin at the press briefing on Wednesday. In July, as part of Trump’s ongoing tariff wars, the US first levied a 25% survie on India, the fifth-largest nation in the world and a close ally of Russia. That rate was then doubled as punishment for trading with Russia.
India has been hit severely by the 50 percent tariffs that went into effect on August 27. Experts say they will greatly reduce Indian exports to the US, its biggest trading partner, and potentially affect thousands of jobs. The economic impact on India could be in the billions. Pharmaceuticals, gemstones, carpets, clothing, and jewelry are the main products India exports to the US. US levies on India are among the highest Trump has imposed.
Trump’s action was not retaliated against by India. New Delhi has, however, strengthened ties with Russia and China, both of which are US adversaries, signaling its dislike for Washington. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China this week for a security forum. In China, he also took a limousine ride with Russian President Putin.
Trump, however, stated on a radio program on Wednesday that he was not concerned about a Russia-China axis attacking the US. He did express disappointment in Putin, however, adding that the US wanted to “help people live” in Ukraine.
sanctions against Russia’s allies?
Trump has suggested that other Russian allies may also be prepared to receive additional “secondary sanctions” from the US, such as the higher tariffs imposed on India.
“You’re going to see a lot more. After the initial tariffs on India were implemented, Trump stated in the Oval Office on August 8 that this was a taste. The White House hasn’t provided any more information, though.
Experts say China could be targeted next. This year, the US and China have engaged in a fierce trade war, both imposing more than 100 percent tariffs on each other at once. The US is currently imposing an average of 57.6 percent import taxes on all Chinese goods, while China has imposed an average of 32.6 percent import taxes.
Russia subject to additional sanctions
In the event that Putin and Ukraine don’t reach a peace, Trump has also threatened to impose even more sanctions on Russia. He renewed that threat on August 22, a week after hosting Putin at talks in Alaska.
According to Trump, “I’m going to make a decision as to what we do, and it’s going to be, it’s going to be a very important decision,” he told reporters. “Whether it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we don’t do anything, we just say it’s your fight.”
The US hasn’t imposed any additional sanctions on Russia since Trump took office this year. There were extensive US sanctions in place on Russia already, however.
Certain individuals, officials, and organizations have been prohibited from doing business since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Prior to President Barack Obama’s resignation, Russia’s intelligence services, the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the Federal Security Service (FSB), as well as four unnamed individuals and three businesses, were all fined for their involvement in Russian interference in the 2016 US elections. Two “Russian compounds” in New York and Maryland, where some of the interference work was done, were also shut down.
The US sanctioned Russian hackers, officials, and related organizations for other “malign” actions in the first year of Trump’s presidency in addition to those found to be responsible for the 2016 election interference. Names for well-known organizations included Kirill Shamalov, Putin’s ex-spouse, and a Russian state weapons company.
In August 2019, Trump approved additional sanctions forbidding the granting of loans to Russian entities or other assistance from Western monetary bodies like the World Bank. Due to concerns about the proliferation, licensing restrictions were also put in place for chemical or biological weapons that were exported to Russia.
Former US President Joe Biden’s administration expanded sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including restrictions on sales of Russian oil, bank transactions, and the seizure of Russian-owned property abroad. Export controls were further imposed on US-made high-tech material being exported to Russia to reduce Moscow’s access to Western technology.
sales of weapons to NATO
Trump and NATO-led Europe reached a deal in July that would allow Ukraine to purchase more of its Patriot missile air defense systems. Trump said the weapons would be rapidly sent to the front lines of the war and that Ukraine’s European allies would pay for them.
The US State Department confirmed on August 28 that the US is planning to send $ 825 million worth of weapons to Ukraine as part of the deal. In addition to the necessary equipment, such as batteries and training software, Ukraine requested 3, 500 extended-range cruise missiles and 3, 350 GPS navigation systems, according to the statement.
“This proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by further equipping it to conduct self-defense and regional security missions. The US statement read, “Ukraine will have no trouble absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.”
The sale was pending congressional approval, the statement added. It was funded by Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands, as well as in part by the US.
What happens next?
Following his meeting with European leaders in Paris on Thursday, Zelenskyy called Trump.
Once a peace agreement is reached, the Paris summit aimed to reach agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine. The so-called coalition of the willing discussed measures like deploying a peace force to Ukraine, but no concrete announcements were made after the meeting. Steve Witkoff, the US ambassador to Paris, met with Zelenskyy, and was also there.
The Ukrainian leader previously stated that he would push for Russian sanctions against Trump. He also said there were “signals” that the US would act as a “backstop”, suggesting that the US may be willing to provide some form of protective support for Ukraine in the future. At a press conference in Copenhagen earlier this week where European ministers were gathered to discuss security, Zellenskyy made those remarks.
Source: Aljazeera
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