President Trump at last seems to have realised that Putin has been playing him for a fool and in yet another extraordinary, colourful outburst, has accused the Russian president of feeding him “bullsh-t”. Trump appeared to be hoodwinked for far too long but has suddenly realised that all the positive chat from Putin is designed to create inertia in the president’s thought processes.
Trump might be the thickest-skinned politician on the planet. If he is as upset as his expletives suggest, the Russians need to be concerned. What has really changed is that Trump knows his air power can easily penetrate Russian air defences following the attacks on Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. Putin will not want to encourage the US leader to flex this muscle, perhaps supplying Ukraine with the capability to make massive air strikes across the front lines – something that neither side can currently do in the grinding war there.
Putin will be even more concerned with the recently leaked audio in which Trump stated that he would “bomb the sh-t out of Moscow” if Russia invaded Ukraine. He could not do it then as he was not President, but he could now. More to the point, if he chose he could cripple Russia’s forces in Ukraine, without a single boot on the ground and only a few airmen in the air. Perhaps in the past we have dismissed Trump’s hyperbole about ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours; we may well have to eat our words as it is clear now that if Trump wanted to, he could end the war pretty smartly. Russia itself would not be threatened at all: just its army beyond its borders.
No doubt Starmer and maybe Macron would buy in also, with British and French jets, and at last Putin would begin to realise that the West and most especially the US is serious about ending this war. This is the language and demonstration of military power needed to pile pressure on Putin, who hitherto has had the freedom of manoeuvre to do pretty much what he likes.
The one other word the Kremlin does not want to hear from Trump is “sanctions”, and that is exactly what the White House is now not just whispering but shouting, directly at Moscow. If Putin can’t sell his oil, his military machine will run out of road quickly. If Russia can’t get semi-conductors from China, his drones and missiles will be less able to destroy schools and hospitals across Ukraine. Not even the Russians can make tanks, drones and ammunition without hard cash.
If Trump is as smart as he tells us, he will see that Putin is under increasing internal pressure as yet another minister is found dead, and he arrests yet another oligarch trying to flee the country. The Russian president might not live on potatoes but most of the country does, and with the price of spuds rising and Russian sons returning in boxes in ever increasing numbers, this is the very time President Trump must turn the screw and force Putin to negotiate for peace.
It is now the US president who holds all the aces and though he may not have the poker face of the Russian leader, he must be savvy enough to realise there is a deal to be done. If Trump can deliver a just peace for Ukraine, much though I have not been one of his fans, nobody will be shouting harder than me for him to get the Nobel Peace Prize he apparently craves.
President Trump at last seems to have realised that Putin has been playing him for a fool and in yet another extraordinary, colourful outburst, has accused the Russian president of feeding him “bullsh-t”. Trump appeared to be hoodwinked for far too long but has suddenly realised that all the positive chat from Putin is designed to create inertia in the president’s thought processes.
Trump might be the thickest-skinned politician on the planet. If he is as upset as his expletives suggest, the Russians need to be concerned. What has really changed is that Trump knows his air power can easily penetrate Russian air defences following the attacks on Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. Putin will not want to encourage the US leader to flex this muscle, perhaps supplying Ukraine with the capability to make massive air strikes across the front lines – something that neither side can currently do in the grinding war there.
Putin will be even more concerned with the recently leaked audio in which Trump stated that he would “bomb the sh-t out of Moscow” if Russia invaded Ukraine. He could not do it then as he was not President, but he could now. More to the point, if he chose he could cripple Russia’s forces in Ukraine, without a single boot on the ground and only a few airmen in the air. Perhaps in the past we have dismissed Trump’s hyperbole about ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours; we may well have to eat our words as it is clear now that if Trump wanted to, he could end the war pretty smartly. Russia itself would not be threatened at all: just its army beyond its borders.
No doubt Starmer and maybe Macron would buy in also, with British and French jets, and at last Putin would begin to realise that the West and most especially the US is serious about ending this war. This is the language and demonstration of military power needed to pile pressure on Putin, who hitherto has had the freedom of manoeuvre to do pretty much what he likes.
The one other word the Kremlin does not want to hear from Trump is “sanctions”, and that is exactly what the White House is now not just whispering but shouting, directly at Moscow. If Putin can’t sell his oil, his military machine will run out of road quickly. If Russia can’t get semi-conductors from China, his drones and missiles will be less able to destroy schools and hospitals across Ukraine. Not even the Russians can make tanks, drones and ammunition without hard cash.
If Trump is as smart as he tells us, he will see that Putin is under increasing internal pressure as yet another minister is found dead, and he arrests yet another oligarch trying to flee the country. The Russian president might not live on potatoes but most of the country does, and with the price of spuds rising and Russian sons returning in boxes in ever increasing numbers, this is the very time President Trump must turn the screw and force Putin to negotiate for peace.
It is now the US president who holds all the aces and though he may not have the poker face of the Russian leader, he must be savvy enough to realise there is a deal to be done. If Trump can deliver a just peace for Ukraine, much though I have not been one of his fans, nobody will be shouting harder than me for him to get the Nobel Peace Prize he apparently craves.