United States President Donald Trump has issued a press release threatening Russia with tariffs and sanctions, amid accusations that he favours Moscow over the nation it has invaded, Ukraine.
On his Reality Social platform on Friday, Trump averted condemning Russia’s invasion, which has been denounced as an unjustified crime of aggression beneath the United Nations Constitution.
As an alternative, he centered on Russia’s newest bombardment, which occurred simply days after the US introduced it might quickly cease sharing military intelligence with Ukraine.
“Primarily based on the truth that Russia is totally ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield proper now, I’m strongly contemplating massive scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia till a Stop Fireplace and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump wrote.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the desk proper now, earlier than it’s too late. Thanks!!!”
Trump has repeatedly said his purpose of serving as a “peacemaker” and “mediator” between Russia and Ukraine, the latter of which has been keeping off a full-scale invasion since February 2022.
However Trump has more and more criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whereas exhibiting an affinity for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Later, in a Friday information convention on the White Home, Trump described negotiations with Russia as “simpler” than comparable discussions with Ukraine.
“I’m discovering it harder, frankly, to take care of Ukraine, they usually don’t have the playing cards,” Trump stated. “It might be simpler coping with Russia.”
A historical past of pressure
Tensions with Zelenskyy began to re-emerge shortly after Trump took workplace for a second time period in January.
There was rising scepticism amongst Trump’s Republican Occasion about continued help for Ukraine.
And Trump had beforehand been impeached throughout his first time period over an alleged menace to withhold army assist to Ukraine if it didn’t present damaging details about his political rivals — one thing critics say could also be fuelling the present-day discord.
However Trump has stepped up his criticism of Zelenskyy in latest weeks. He has additionally tried to steer peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, leading to what some think about early concessions to Moscow.
Trump has stated, for instance, that it was “unlikely” Ukraine would return to its pre-2014 borders, earlier than Russia annexed Crimea and began incursions into different territories.
He additionally dismissed Ukraine’s makes an attempt to hitch the North Atlantic Treaty Group (NATO) alliance as a non-starter, even repeating Russian speaking factors that Ukraine’s bid was what began the struggle.
On February 12, Trump announced he had performed “a prolonged and extremely productive telephone name” with Putin, and that their two nations would start peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
This led to outcry from conventional US allies in Europe, together with Ukraine, which feared being sidelined from the non-public talks.
Then, on February 19, Trump escalated tensions by calling Zelenskyy a “dictator” for not holding war-time elections. Ukraine is beneath martial law because of the invasion, which prohibits elections from unfolding.
All of the whereas, Trump had been pushing Ukraine to grant the US possession over its uncommon earth minerals, which embody metals utilized in expertise merchandise. Ukraine had baulked on the lack of safety assurances within the deal, nonetheless.
Relations between the 2 leaders got here to a boiling level on February 28, when Zelenskyy visited the White Home to barter the minerals deal.
A information convention within the Oval Workplace devolved right into a shouting match, whereby Trump berated Zelenskyy for not being “grateful” sufficient for US help.
“You’re both going to make a deal or we’re out,” Trump informed Zelenskyy, whereas additionally remarking, “Putin went by a hell of lots with me.”
Russian officers applauded Trump’s remarks, and shortly afterwards, Trump introduced he would droop assist to Ukraine.
On Wednesday, his administration additionally introduced that it might quickly stop sharing the army intelligence that Ukraine makes use of to trace Russian troop motion, protect in opposition to incoming missiles and deploy rockets of its personal.
Mending fences?
Within the early hours of Friday, Russia launched a barrage of missiles onto Ukrainian vitality amenities, seemingly taking benefit of the present defensive blind spots.
Ukraine reported that, whereas it was capable of intercept Russia’s drones, it was much less profitable in destroying the missiles earlier than they struck.
The assault seems to have been the motivation for Trump’s newest social media submit, as US officers put together to host their Ukrainian counterparts in Saudi Arabia subsequent week for extra peace talks.
“They’re bombing the hell out of them proper now,” Trump stated from the Oval Workplace on Friday.
“I put a press release in — a really sturdy assertion: ‘Can’t try this. You may’t try this.’ We’re attempting to assist them and Ukraine has to get on the ball and get a job performed,” he added.
Within the week because the Oval Workplace blowup, Ukrainian officers have tried to fix fences with their US counterparts.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy despatched a letter to Trump, signalling he is able to signal a take care of the US. He additionally posted comparable feedback on social media.
“I want to reiterate Ukraine’s dedication to peace,” Zelenskyy stated. “No person desires peace greater than Ukrainians. My crew and I stand able to work beneath President Trump’s sturdy management to get a peace that lasts.”
Trump learn aloud a part of Zelenskyy’s letter in entrance of a joint session of Congress, whereas bemoaning the amount of cash the US has invested in Ukraine’s defence.
“The USA has despatched a whole lot of billions of {dollars} to help Ukraine’s defence with no safety, with no something,” he stated. “Do you need to preserve it going for an additional 5 years?”
Nonetheless, Friday’s menace of sanctions in opposition to Russia is essentially the most assertive Trump has been in opposition to Moscow because the begin of his second time period.
Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden, had issued a number of sanctions in opposition to Russia throughout his 4 years in workplace, together with measures in opposition to its vitality sector in his closing days in workplace.
In line with the US authorities statistics, the overall US commerce with Russia in 2024 was valued at about $3.5bn. That’s down from $36bn in 2021, the yr earlier than the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher defined that Trump’s threats of “large-scale” sanctions might be a response to the strain he feels to beef up his response to Russia.
“Many individuals thought that Donald Trump was maybe being too supportive of Russia, was forcing Ukraine into talks, and never placing the identical stage of strain onto Russia,” Fisher stated.
“The USA has been main the world beneath Joe Biden with sanctions. Donald Trump hasn’t applied any new ones since he took workplace.”
However it’s but unclear whether or not Trump will comply with by, significantly as he’s anticipated to fulfill Putin within the coming months.
