The penny has finally dropped for Donald Trump: for all his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin simply has no interest in resolving the conflict.
While it has been blindingly obvious to anyone with a passing interest in the Ukraine conflict that Putin has set his heart on waging war until he has accomplished his goals – the total subjugation of Ukraine to the Kremlin – Trump has persisted with his own quest for a peace deal.
If his campaign pledge to end hostilities within 24 hours of taking office was never on the cards, he cannot be faulted for investing an enormous amount of political capital in negotiating a ceasefire. From his public humiliation of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenksy in the Oval Office, to his constant fawning over the Russian leader, whom he has called a “genius” and praised for being “savvy”, Trump has been unstinting in his attempts to persuade Putin to accept his ceasefire plan.
At one point, having bullied Zelensky into accepting his proposals, Trump was so confident the Russian leader would follow suit that he predicted Putin would not “violate his word” after indicating Russia would sign up to the terms.
That was back in February. While Trump has continued to maintain regular contact with the Russian leader, the realisation has dawned on him that Putin has, after all, simply been “tapping me along” to buy time for his military campaign in Ukraine.
The final ignominy for Trump came after his most recent phone call with Putin last week, which prompted Putin to launch one of his largest aerial assaults against Ukraine after the American leader said he was “disappointed” by the outcome of the conversation. Further large-scale Russian attacks have subsequently taken place, with Moscow yesterday launching its largest drone attack on Ukraine after Trump accused Putin of throwing a lot of “bulls---” at the US.
“He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump complained.
Putin’s cynical exploitation of Trump’s goodwill may not only have provoked an irate response from the US leader. It could prove to be a significant turning point in the conflict if it results, as now seems likely, with the US re-establishing supplies of advanced weaponry to Kyiv.
So long as Trump believed there was a genuine chance of achieving a breakthrough with Putin, he was reluctant to maintain military supplies to Ukraine at sufficient levels to sustain Kyiv’s war effort. Only last week – prior to Trump’s latest telephone exchange with Putin – the White House confirmed it was halting the shipment of critical weapons to Ukraine in order “to put America’s interests first”.
Trump’s anger at Putin’s prevarication tactics has led him to reverse this decision, with the president giving his approval to sending US defensive weapons to Ukraine. In addition, he is seriously considering giving his approval to a Senate bill that proposes a significant increase in sanctions against Russia for refusing to end the war.
From Moscow’s perspective, these are measures that, if fully implemented, could have a serious impact on the eventual outcome of the Ukraine conflict.
Putin’s delaying tactics in his talks with Trump has not resulted in any tangible improvement in Russia’s performance on the battlefield, with the latest intelligence reports suggesting that Moscow’s summer military offensive is faltering just weeks after it began. If the Russians have been unable to achieve any meaningful breakthrough at a time when the Ukrainians have been suffering from severe US aid shortages, they are hardly likely to fare any better if Trump resumes military support for Kyiv.
Putin will also be aware of the limitations of Russia’s own military hardware after its less-than-impressive performance during the recent conflict between Israel and Iran.
The ease with which the Israelis penetrated and destroyed Iran’s Russian-made radar and air defences is deeply humiliating for Putin who has based his attempts to expand Russian influence in the region on Moscow’s military prowess. If Russian military hardware was unable to protect the ayatollahs from Israel’s onslaught, it is unlikely to fare any better against Western firepower in Ukraine.
Add to this the parlous state of the Russian economy, where interest rates stand at a punitive 20 per cent and inflation is estimated to be running at 15 per cent, and any move by Washington to impose further sanctions against Moscow could mean that Putin suddenly finds himself in a very precarious position indeed.
The bill currently under consideration by the Senate proposes the imposition of eye-watering 500 per cent tariffs on countries such as China and India that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports which, given that they account for around half of Moscow’s total budget, would have a devastating impact on its economic survival.
If, as Trump has said on numerous occasions, his ultimate goal is to end the war in Ukraine, then he might find pursuing a policy of supporting Ukraine militarily and targeting Russia’s economy will ultimately prove far more successful than simply waiting for Putin to play ball.
The penny has finally dropped for Donald Trump: for all his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin simply has no interest in resolving the conflict.
While it has been blindingly obvious to anyone with a passing interest in the Ukraine conflict that Putin has set his heart on waging war until he has accomplished his goals – the total subjugation of Ukraine to the Kremlin – Trump has persisted with his own quest for a peace deal.
If his campaign pledge to end hostilities within 24 hours of taking office was never on the cards, he cannot be faulted for investing an enormous amount of political capital in negotiating a ceasefire. From his public humiliation of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenksy in the Oval Office, to his constant fawning over the Russian leader, whom he has called a “genius” and praised for being “savvy”, Trump has been unstinting in his attempts to persuade Putin to accept his ceasefire plan.
At one point, having bullied Zelensky into accepting his proposals, Trump was so confident the Russian leader would follow suit that he predicted Putin would not “violate his word” after indicating Russia would sign up to the terms.
That was back in February. While Trump has continued to maintain regular contact with the Russian leader, the realisation has dawned on him that Putin has, after all, simply been “tapping me along” to buy time for his military campaign in Ukraine.
The final ignominy for Trump came after his most recent phone call with Putin last week, which prompted Putin to launch one of his largest aerial assaults against Ukraine after the American leader said he was “disappointed” by the outcome of the conversation. Further large-scale Russian attacks have subsequently taken place, with Moscow yesterday launching its largest drone attack on Ukraine after Trump accused Putin of throwing a lot of “bulls---” at the US.
“He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump complained.
Putin’s cynical exploitation of Trump’s goodwill may not only have provoked an irate response from the US leader. It could prove to be a significant turning point in the conflict if it results, as now seems likely, with the US re-establishing supplies of advanced weaponry to Kyiv.
So long as Trump believed there was a genuine chance of achieving a breakthrough with Putin, he was reluctant to maintain military supplies to Ukraine at sufficient levels to sustain Kyiv’s war effort. Only last week – prior to Trump’s latest telephone exchange with Putin – the White House confirmed it was halting the shipment of critical weapons to Ukraine in order “to put America’s interests first”.
Trump’s anger at Putin’s prevarication tactics has led him to reverse this decision, with the president giving his approval to sending US defensive weapons to Ukraine. In addition, he is seriously considering giving his approval to a Senate bill that proposes a significant increase in sanctions against Russia for refusing to end the war.
From Moscow’s perspective, these are measures that, if fully implemented, could have a serious impact on the eventual outcome of the Ukraine conflict.
Putin’s delaying tactics in his talks with Trump has not resulted in any tangible improvement in Russia’s performance on the battlefield, with the latest intelligence reports suggesting that Moscow’s summer military offensive is faltering just weeks after it began. If the Russians have been unable to achieve any meaningful breakthrough at a time when the Ukrainians have been suffering from severe US aid shortages, they are hardly likely to fare any better if Trump resumes military support for Kyiv.
Putin will also be aware of the limitations of Russia’s own military hardware after its less-than-impressive performance during the recent conflict between Israel and Iran.
The ease with which the Israelis penetrated and destroyed Iran’s Russian-made radar and air defences is deeply humiliating for Putin who has based his attempts to expand Russian influence in the region on Moscow’s military prowess. If Russian military hardware was unable to protect the ayatollahs from Israel’s onslaught, it is unlikely to fare any better against Western firepower in Ukraine.
Add to this the parlous state of the Russian economy, where interest rates stand at a punitive 20 per cent and inflation is estimated to be running at 15 per cent, and any move by Washington to impose further sanctions against Moscow could mean that Putin suddenly finds himself in a very precarious position indeed.
The bill currently under consideration by the Senate proposes the imposition of eye-watering 500 per cent tariffs on countries such as China and India that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports which, given that they account for around half of Moscow’s total budget, would have a devastating impact on its economic survival.
If, as Trump has said on numerous occasions, his ultimate goal is to end the war in Ukraine, then he might find pursuing a policy of supporting Ukraine militarily and targeting Russia’s economy will ultimately prove far more successful than simply waiting for Putin to play ball.