Trump touts weapons sales to NATO for Ukraine, threatens Russia with tariffs
By: Charles Maynes (NPR)
Oh, look, more boom booms. Is everyone excited? Betcha the Pentagon has a whole parade of scapegoats lined up to explain away the next defeat.
Democrats have been trying to force Trump to turn against his bosom buddy Putin for 8 long years. The loonies must be so proud of themselves. And now we can use Grandma's Medicaid to buy Missiles for Peace. Volodymyr Zelensky thanks you for your sacrifice. Or, at least, he will. Sometime. Wait for it.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
MOSCOW — President Trump on Monday threatened to punish Russia with heavy tariffs on countries that trade with Moscow if the Kremlin fails to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, while promising Kyiv "billions of dollars" worth of military equipment.
"We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days," Trump said during a White House meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. "I use trade for a lot of things," Trump said. "But it's great for settling wars."
It was his latest warning against Russian President Vladimir Putin as Trump becomes increasingly frustrated with the Kremlin leader over his continued war in Ukraine.
President Trump explained that NATO countries would acquire U.S.-made weapons, including Patriot air defense missile systems, and that those countries would provide them to Ukraine.
Speaking Sunday to reporters ahead of the meeting with Rutte, Trump cast the weapons deals as a direct rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need because Putin really surprised a lot of people," Trump said. "He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening."
Republican senators have sought to reconfigure a draft bill that would give Trump a sanctions on/off switch to use as snap leverage with Moscow.
Collectively, the moves cap a stark turnaround in Trump's approach toward President Putin over the Ukraine issue — from initially promising he could leverage his personal relations with Putin to negotiate a peace agreement to now openly criticizing the Kremlin leader as unserious in negotiations to end the war.
"It's all talk and then missiles go into Kyiv and kill 60 people," Trump said Monday. "It's got to stop."
The announcement coincided with a visit by White House envoy Keith Kellogg to Kyiv that included a sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy appeared upbeat in a video released to social media, calling his talks with Kellogg a "productive conversation" and praising Trump for "important signals of support" for Ukraine.
"We discussed the path to peace and what we can practically do together to bring it closer. This includes strengthening Ukraine's air defense, joint production, and procurement of defense weapons in collaboration with Europe," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
"We hope for U.S. leadership, as it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its unreasonable ambitions are curbed through strength."
Back in Moscow, the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was waiting to hear full details of Trump's announcement, but framed the decision to provide arms through NATO as merely U.S. policy rebranded.
"The fact remains that the supply of weapons, ammunition and military equipment from the United States continued and continues to Ukraine," Peskov told reporters.
The spokesman has similarly played down recent profane statements by Trump suggesting Putin was unserious about negotiations.
The American leader often engages in "tough talk," Peskov noted, adding Russia still hoped to repair bilateral relations.
Political observers in Moscow suggested the Kremlin's muted response reflected an acknowledgment it was dealing with a mercurial American president.
Trump's frustrations with Russia today might be directed at Ukraine tomorrow.
"Why should they ruin relations completely?" Sergey Poletaev, of the Moscow-based Vatfor analytical platform, said in an interview with NPR.
"In another six months or so, the pendulum could swing back the other way."
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The United States stands far behind Ukraine all the way. Go get 'em, boys.
Russia won the war when Joe Biden promised the United States wouldn't fight. It's too late to turn back the clock on another inevitable defeat. But, hey, deficits don't matter. Who needs Grandma anyway?
And slow walked enough military aid that it would not make a difference in hopes Kiev would give up and he could say the US did something.
Russia quickly defeating Ukraine would have scared NATO into unifying under US leadership. Biden threatened NATO retaliation against Russia but that retaliation depended upon strengthening NATO and reasserting US dominance over NATO. Biden was hoping to reignite the Cold War.
Biden gave Ukraine just enough not to lose, until he could get through his presidency. The problem now is that Putin cannot even accept a peace deal that allows him to keep the territory he has taken. How could Putin ever explain to the Russian people a gain of about 40 or so miles of Ukrainian territory at the expense of a million Russian soldiers dead, many more wounded and an enormous cost of resources. Unfortunately, there will not be peace.
Russia has lost Europe as a market for oil and natural gas. That won't be coming back. Russia isn't attractive to outside investors any longer. That won't be coming back any time soon. The only thing Russia has left is to weaken NATO and the United States through a war of attrition. Putin has to keep fighting until the United States has had enough and walks away. If history is a guide, that would be about a decade of war. The Ukrainian war may outlive Vladimir Putin; he is 72.
If the Russian invasion was about Ukraine then Putin could take his wins and accept peace. If the Russian invasion was about weakening NATO then Putin needs the war to continue.
That's why Joe Biden's war is a quagmire.
Putin is 72? I'm heading to the gym.
Putin doesn't have a decade. Something strange may happen to him. He has to win it all and soon.
He is riding a tiger.
Yup. According to Google, Putin was born Oct. 7, 1952. Ironic, what?
IMO Putin has all the time he wants. The Ukrainian war may outlive Putin but Putin has no need to hurry. Putin seems to have support in the Kremlin and popular support remains strong. Putin doesn't appear to be riding anything; he's sitting back and biding his time.
What happens to Ukraine if there is a global recession? DOGE austerity hasn't corrected the bond market. What would stimulus spending do? The United States is in no position to save the world like 2008. Still think Putin is running out of time?
"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need because Putin really surprised a lot of people," Trump said.
I don't think Putin surprised as many people as Donald seems to think.
about time
China has stated they will not let Putin lose, so this should be fun.