BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom: Towards a backdrop of threats Donald Trump made however by no means adopted by and calls for ignored by Vladimir Putin with out penalties, the USA president issued the newest ultimatum to his Russian counterpart: Make progress towards a ceasefire inside 50 days or put together for tariffs.
It was already a serious shift in Mr Trump’s strategy to the battle in Ukraine, earlier than he dramatically reduce his deadline. His ultimatum will now expire on Friday (Aug 8), as an alternative of Sep 2.
This isn’t the primary time that Mr Trump has tried his financial model of diplomacy on Mr Putin, although he always oscillated between stress on Ukraine and on Russia. On Jan 22, simply two days after his return to the White Home for a second time period, he demanded on Reality Social that Russia “STOP this ridiculous battle” or face commerce sanctions.
By Could, Mr Trump suspected he was being strung alongside and gave Mr Putin two weeks to reply to his requires a ceasefire. Obscure as this appeared on the time, it was the primary time that Mr Trump imposed a concrete timeline.
The Russian president didn’t blink. Quite the opposite, Russia intensified each its air and floor campaigns in opposition to Ukraine.
