"Speak softly, and carry a big stick." So the wise, age-old admonition goes.

However, in the case of Russian President (dictator) Vladimir Putin, it's "Talk tough, but realize that it's President Donald Trump who carries the big stick" — and don't push the U.S. president too far.

As Trump has demonstrated time and time again, he's more than willing to follow through on threats, as the mad mullahs in Tehran can attest after the United States — following decades of hollow threats against the Islamic regime — obliterated Iran's top nuclear sites in late June.

Trump has had multiple conversations with Putin about ending Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine, only, it seems, for the Russian strongman to play nice on the phone with Trump, and then step up his attacks on Ukraine, including indiscriminately bombing civilian areas.

To say Trump has had enough of Putin's games would be an understatement. As the president has said, in various iterations: 

I always hang up [from a call with Putin] and say, 'Well that was a nice phone call,' and then [Russia sends] missiles into Kyiv or some other city.

Indeed — which points to the main sticking point in achieving a permanent ceasefire between Russian and Ukraine: 

Putin has consistently proved he's far less interested in ending tariffs on Russian imports to the U.S. than in gobbling up as much of Ukraine and its natural resources as he can get away with, before he finally agrees to end the war.

In mid-July, Trump issued an ultimatum to Putin:

We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days. Tariffs at about 100 percent. You'd call them secondary tariffs. You know what that means.

A White House official clarified that when Trump referred to “secondary tariffs,” he meant 100 percent tariffs on Russian imports into the U.S. and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy Russian oil.

Yet, Putin has continued to strike Ukraine.

By July 28, Trump had really had enough, changing his 50-day deadline to just "10 to 12 days."

DIG DEEPER: Trump Reaches His Breaking Point With Putin, Sets Aggressive New Deadline

Trump Has Had Enough of Vladimir Putin, Promises Severe Consequences Within 50 Days If No Deal

Then, on Monday, after President Trump "confirmed to reporters on Sunday that two nuclear submarines he ordered to 'face Russia' are now 'in the region,' a curious thing appeared to happen. 

Only time will tell, but here's the deal: Nine days into Trump's new 10-12-day ultimatum, Putin is reportedly considering blinking — to mollify Trump, in an effort to ward of further tariffs on Russian imports to the U.S.:

Putin is reportedly mulling an air truce with Ukraine to halt its record-breaking drone and missile bombardments, a major potential concession to President Trump ahead of his Friday deadline to make peace.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected attempts at a full-fledged cease-fire with Ukraine, but is open to an air truce if Kyiv agrees to it as well, Bloomberg reported, citing a source familiar with the potential agreement.

The possible truce was floated as Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow Wednesday for high-stakes talks aimed at ending the bloodshed.

While Witkoff and Putin met for three hours in their first in-person meeting since April, the Russian dictator's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov framed the meeting as “useful and constructive”  — which has been Russia's diiplomatic-speak in response to past visits with Witkoff and phone calls between Putin and Trump. 

So, will Putin cave? It's hard to say. 

Then again, while saber-rattling and jawboning might work with some of Russia's neighbors, it appears that the little dictator is beginning to realize it doesn't work with Donald Trump.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join RedState VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!