Trump has threatened to impose high tariffs and sanctions on Russian goods if the aggressor country does not stop the war.
Donald Trump explains how he plans to pressure Russia into peace. Trump has threatened Moscow and its allies with new sanctions and trade tariffs if the Kremlin does not immediately end its war in Ukraine.
Trump’s formula
“If we can’t make a ‘deal’, and quickly, I have no choice but to impose high taxes, tariffs and sanctions on everything Russia sells to the United States, as well as other participating countries,” wrote Trump. on his social networks Truth Social.
Trump prefaced this threat with assurances that he “loves the Russians” and that he has always had a good relationship with Putin.
“In all of this, I’m going to do Russia, whose economy is collapsing, and President Putin a huge service. Agree immediately and stop this stupid war! It’s only going to get worse,” Trump continued.
Without Ukraine?
At the same time, Trump did not mention Ukraine in the Russian proposal. Trump is pressuring Moscow, and now the move depends on the Russian president.
Vladimir Zelensky, on the sidelines of the economic forum in Davos, said that Russian troops should withdraw from the line before a full-scale invasion begins in order to start negotiations to end the war.
The head of state emphasized that Ukraine will do everything to ensure that the negotiations with the Russian Federation are fair.
Zelensky also said that any peacekeeping force stationed in Ukraine should include US troops.
At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine “will not accept the Budapest Memorandum piece of paper.”
“It, like NATO, has the ability to hold consultations when sovereignty is threatened. We met after the occupation of Crimea. Do you think someone has come? No,” Zelensky said.
100 days to end the war
Trump has instructed Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg to end the war in Ukraine within one hundred days, but he probably won’t be able to do it, The Wall Street Journal wrote on Wednesday, January 22.
The appointment of retired Lieutenant General Kellogg as the special envoy of the US President for Ukraine is considered the first step in the peace negotiations, which Trump intends to control himself, the material said. At the same time, making deals with dictator Putin will be more difficult than Trump promised during the election campaign, when he said he would end the war before taking office.
Kellogg will advise Trump on his negotiations, but former adviser to the US president John Bolton said that Trump is not “asking for advice.” Bolton said Trump likes Kellogg because “he doesn’t give his opinion unless asked.”
Trump appointed Kellogg because of his military experience, but he has never been a diplomat and is unlikely to be involved in actual negotiations with Russia, former colleagues said.
“Trump enjoys his company and sees him as a fiercely honest person, but he has never exerted any significant political influence,” said a former National Security Council official who worked with Kellogg in the Trump administration.
More recently, Kellogg publicly supported the idea that Ukraine could achieve a battlefield victory against Russia with US help. According to him, giving more weapons to Ukraine can be used as a stick to force Moscow to negotiate.
Kellogg’s former colleagues say he was appointed special envoy to Ukraine in connection with the peace plan he proposed last year. He called for a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement, using a “carrot and stick policy” to force the Russians and Ukrainians to negotiate. In particular, it was proposed to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and to offer Russia some easing of sanctions in exchange for signing a peace treaty.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.