The Atlantic on Trump "halfway": the head of the White House is still thinking - whether to punish Putin at all
Kyiv • UNN
US President Donald Trump is considering whether to punish Russia. Instead, he announced a summit with Putin. Trump also informed European leaders about a possible meeting with Putin and Zelensky, for which Moscow, it seems, has not provided sufficient assurances.
The US President believes he can create his own truth and achieve success. Trump is trying to regain control over the political narrative, he sets conditions, but this is followed by a bargain, during which, it seems, the head of the White House remains trapped in contradictions. The Kremlin obviously does not have time before the ultimatum deadline set by Trump, and the US President is still considering how and whether it is really worth punishing Russia, writes The Atlantic, reports UNN.
Details
Steve Witkoff had a productive meeting with Putin in Moscow. Donald Trump stated this once again, after a series of previous visits of his special envoy to Russia. Allegedly, the results of the discussion prompted the Republican president to return to his original plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Currently, Trump has announced a summit with Putin, although he later added certain conditions, as reported by the media.
One White House official told The Atlantic that Trump informed European leaders he wants to meet with Putin as early as next week. This meeting will be part of new efforts to end active Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Trump also informed European leaders that he would potentially hold the next meeting with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the Kremlin did not immediately agree to this. Details need to be finalized, Moscow believes.
But these details again resemble a certain cycle in which Trump's efforts to manage his expectations, which he wants to turn into reality, only encourage his vis-à-vis to find a convenient moment for manipulation. And the Republican president, it seems, has no clear response plan and does not demonstrate an obvious ability for confident steps forward.
One US official told The Atlantic that Trump is still considering:
Is it worth directly punishing Putin if Moscow doesn't meet tomorrow's deadline?
This makes some sense for the United States, given the following aspects:
- The US trades little with Russia, so direct tariffs would be useless;
- the Western wing is divided on the merits of imposing secondary sanctions against countries doing business with Moscow.
This week, Trump signed sanctions against India because he was frustrated by the lack of progress in a trade deal with Delhi. But Trump is much more cautious about sanctions against China — another major economic partner of Russia. The reason is fear of disrupting ongoing trade negotiations with Beijing — very important for the US.