 "US President Donald Trump is seen with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. (Photo: Reuters)")
Even though he is now reported to be considering new sanctions for Russia, US President Donald Trump has not yet indicated he has taken such a decision.
Trump came to office with the promise of ending the war in Ukraine within a day. More than four months later, however, the war is nowhere its end. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has rejected all ceasefire proposals floated by Trump and has again and again rebuffed Trump’s pleas to not attack civilians in Europe. Amid such dismissal of his positions, it has been reported that that Trump is finally considering punitive measures for Russia.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump has not yet imposed sanctions on Russia for three reasons.
Firstly, Trump has not yet imposed sanctions because of his personal dislike for Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Trump’s close ties to Putin and dislike for Zelenskyy is well-known. By parroting Russian propaganda, Trump has trashed Zelenskyy throughout the war by falsely accusing him of starting the war with Russia, falsely calling him an unelected leader, calling him a dictator, berating him for seeking to buy air defence systems, shouting at him after inviting him to White House on live television, and slamming him for calling Putin names.
On the other hand, Trump has not yet done anything regarding Putin despite the Russian leader rejecting all ceasefire proposals and personal pleas.
Trump dislikes Zelenskyy so much that even though he has started rebuking Putin lately, he still continues to trash Zelenskyy. He said on Sunday that that Zelenskyy “is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSecondly, Trump has believed that more sanctions would not curb Russia’s ability to wage war. Instead, he has believed that more sanctions would hamper ongoing efforts to revive US-Russia economic relations.
Thirdly, Trump has believed that his personal relationship with Putin would lead to the Russian leader ending the war as a personal favour. However, Putin has shown no indication that he wants to end the war — even Trump has acknowledged it.
After the call with Putin last Monday, Trump told European leaders on a call that Putin does not want to end the war in Ukraine because he thinks he is winning, according to The Journal.