Just hours after Donald Trump’s unconventional inauguration had come to a close, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were on the phone to one another, promising to bring the new Moscow-Beijing axis to “greater heights”.
Coincidence? The Kremlin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov would have us think so. The call was “not connected with Trump’s inauguration in any way”, he told reporters –proof perhaps that the Russian elites do have a sense of humour after all.
However, the return of an emboldened Trump, determined to reassert America’s strength around the world, is no laughing matter for Moscow and Beijing. Putin and Xi are panicking – and rightly so.
The following day, Trump threatened tariffs on Beijing, calling it “an abuser”. He also warned the Kremlin that it can expect “big trouble” if it does not strike a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, he doubled down on his bellicose stance towards Putin. If a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war wasn’t reached soon, the US would “have no other choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States,” he pledged.
A tit-for-tat trade war with China is one thing, but silencing Moscow’s missiles and bombs on Europe’s doorstep would be about as emphatic a demonstration of Washington’s renewed might as one could conceive of.
Trump may have to refine his plan somewhat first. As several sceptics were quick to point out, trade between the US and Russia is relatively minimal. However, with the US president leading the charge, a new round of punishing and highly targeted sanctions could deal the decisive blow to the Kremlin’s imperial crusade, crushing the fragile Russian economy and forcing Putin to halt his invasion.
Just hours after Donald Trump’s unconventional inauguration had come to a close, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were on the phone to one another, promising to bring the new Moscow-Beijing axis to “greater heights”.
Coincidence? The Kremlin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov would have us think so. The call was “not connected with Trump’s inauguration in any way”, he told reporters –proof perhaps that the Russian elites do have a sense of humour after all.
However, the return of an emboldened Trump, determined to reassert America’s strength around the world, is no laughing matter for Moscow and Beijing. Putin and Xi are panicking – and rightly so.
The following day, Trump threatened tariffs on Beijing, calling it “an abuser”. He also warned the Kremlin that it can expect “big trouble” if it does not strike a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, he doubled down on his bellicose stance towards Putin. If a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war wasn’t reached soon, the US would “have no other choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States,” he pledged.
A tit-for-tat trade war with China is one thing, but silencing Moscow’s missiles and bombs on Europe’s doorstep would be about as emphatic a demonstration of Washington’s renewed might as one could conceive of.
Trump may have to refine his plan somewhat first. As several sceptics were quick to point out, trade between the US and Russia is relatively minimal. However, with the US president leading the charge, a new round of punishing and highly targeted sanctions could deal the decisive blow to the Kremlin’s imperial crusade, crushing the fragile Russian economy and forcing Putin to halt his invasion.