Trump's Russia sanctions strategy 'sometimes hot, sometimes cold'
Officials say that since taking office, the White House chief has not done enough to put pressure on sanctions against Russia.
The Wall Street Journal assessed that President Donald Trump's sanctions strategy against Russia has been "hot and cold." Therefore, Mr. Trump's sudden turn against Russia has met with skepticism from officials in his administration and European countries - who believe that he has done little since returning to power to punish the Kremlin for not ending the war with Ukraine.
The White House boss has given Russian President Vladimir Putin a deadline of August 8 to reach a ceasefire with Kiev, shortening the 50-day deadline he had proposed. Mr. Trump has threatened that if the fighting does not end, countries that buy Russian energy, namely India and China, will be hit with additional tariffs.
The US Senate appears poised to pass a series of tough sanctions backed by more than 80 lawmakers, whenever the president gives the green light.
Many analysts have found that President Trump’s deadlines are often fluid. He often promises something in “two weeks,” then fails to deliver. CNN cited examples of Trump’s trade tariff deadlines being pushed back frequently when trade deals were not signed.
But perhaps nowhere are these “ultimatum” deadlines more important than the White House’s foreign policy toward its adversaries. And this year, President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that even those deadlines are not so difficult.
This is particularly true on the Russia issue, where Mr. Trump has set himself a series of “two-week” deadlines, only to let them pass — before increasing them to 50 days, and now to 10-12 days.
Asked last month about that missed two-week deadline, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed that these were “complex global conflicts” that President Trump was trying to resolve.
