Trump is taking US-Russia relations on a rollercoaster ride
After Vladimir Putin had proposed replacing President Volodymyr Zelensky's administration with "external governance" in Ukraine under the auspices of the UN, President Trump made it known that he was "angry" with Putin."I was disappointed in a certain way, some of the things that were said over the last day or two having to do with Zelensky," Trump commented on 30 March. "Because when [Putin] considers Zelensky not credible, he's supposed to be making a deal with him. Whether you like him or you don't like him."After a day playing golf with Trump, the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, told the Guardian newspaper: "I think America, and my sense is also the president of the United States, is running out of patience with Russia."Trump threatened to impose secondary tariffs of up to 50% on Russian oil exports if Russia was found to be dragging its heels on a Ukraine peace deal. A bi-partisan group of US senators has gone even further. They've drawn up a bill that would impose 500% secondary tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other resources.Up to this point the Russian press had been welcoming the thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington. The Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper last month ran a headline stating that US and Russian officials had "started speaking the same language".
This week things changed.On Wednesday, Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper accused the Trump administration of "administrative insanity… inexperience… immaturity".It criticised the administration's "bragging and arrogance" and "its desire to declare 'huge breakthroughs' when the first steps have barely been taken".The same day, Komsomolskaya Pravda declared: "On Ukraine talks, Donald's mood changes as often as the wind."Signs, perhaps, of a cold wind blowing between Moscow and Washington?And yet when Trump announced his sweeping tariffs this week, Russia wasn't on the list. Instead, US authorities had organised a sanctions waiver for a key Kremlin official: Putin's foreign investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Dmitriev flew into Washington for talks with the Trump administration.A sign, perhaps, of Russia and America getting on with the business of… getting along?But on Friday, another warning from Washington to Moscow. This time at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels."President Trump's not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio."We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not."
"If they're not," he continued, "then we'll have to re-evaluate where we stand and what we do moving forward about it."This followed criticism of Russia by America's Nato allies. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Putin "continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet"."He could accept a ceasefire now, he continues to bombard Ukraine… We see you, Vladimir Putin, we know what you are doing."
Earlier on Friday there were rumours that Trump and Putin were about to speak again on the phone. These were followed by more rumours: the White House had changed its mind.The Kremlin said that there were no plans for a conversation.But there are reports that American companies are planning to take part in this year's St Petersburg Economic Forum.Okay. Stop the ride. I need to get off.My conclusions from all of this.Trying to follow each twist and turn on the US-Russia rollercoaster can leave you giddy and confused.Sometimes it's better observing from a distance. It often helps in order to identify the bigger picture. Which is this: for months Donald Trump's team avoided criticising Putin and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Key White House officials, like special envoy Steve Witkoff, have repeatedly embraced and repeated Kremlin talking points. True, Washington says it's growing impatient with Russia and has threatened tougher sanctions on Moscow. But it hasn't imposed any. Not yet.Will it? Is the Trump administration prepared to pressure Moscow into ending the war? And would the Kremlin allow itself to be pressured into doing so? It's a key question as Russia's war on Ukraine continues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
India stock benchmarks to open slightly higher; US-Russia talks eyed
Aug 14 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks are likely to open marginally higher on Thursday, tracking the broader sentiment in Asia, but caution ahead of Russia-U.S. talks over the war in Ukraine could cap the upside in a holiday-truncated week. Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,698 as of 8:00 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab will open above Wednesday's close of 24,619.35. MSCI's broader index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab rose 0.2%, adding to Wednesday's rally on prospects of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will discuss a possible deal to end the war in Ukraine when they meet on Friday in Alaska. Meanwhile, Trump has threatened "severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine, but said that a meeting between them could swiftly be followed by a second that would include Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The talks are being closely watched by market participants in India after Washington imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods over New Delhi's Russian oil imports. Positive U.S.-Russia talks could help ease U.S.-India trade tensions, according to multiple analysts. The Nifty and Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab have risen about 1% so far this week and are set to snap six consecutive weeks of losses, triggered by trade uncertainty and muted quarterly earnings. Indian markets will be closed on Friday for Independence Day. ** State-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp ( opens new tab reports better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by a dip in costs and improved fuel demand ** Domino's India operator Jubilant Foodworks ( opens new tab beats first-quarter profit estimates by a wide margin as lower-priced items on the menu and free deliveries bolstered demand ** United Spirits ( opens new tab misses profit estimates as higher marketing spends overshadow sustained demand for premium liquor
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
Dollar struggles as Fed rate-cut bets build; bitcoin soars to record high
TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar languished at multi-week lows against major peers on Thursday as traders ramped up bets for the Federal Reserve to resume cutting interest rates next month. Rising expectations for Fed easing combined with increasing institutional cryptocurrency investment powered bitcoin to a fresh record peak. Australia's dollar gained after data showed the labour market was surprisingly resilient. It was a slightly different story in the U.S. where Fed rhetoric has turned overall more dovish of late on signs of a cooling labour market, while President Donald Trump's tariffs have not added to price pressures in a significant way just yet. Traders see a Fed rate cut on September 17 as a near certainty, according to LSEG data, and even lay around 7% odds on a super-sized half-point reduction. "For the markets, it's not even a matter of if the Fed cuts interest rates in September, it's a question of how much," said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at "Signs of a downturn in the labour market have pushed futures to bake in a series of rate cuts before the end of the year." The Fed also continues to be under intense political pressure to ease. Trump has repeatedly criticised Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates sooner, even threatening to oust him before Powell's term expires in May. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday called for a "series of rate cuts," and said the Fed could kick off the policy easing with a half-point cut. Bessent also said the Bank of Japan had gotten "behind the curve" by delaying rate hikes. The U.S. dollar dropped 0.7% to 146.38 yen , its weakest since July 24. Sterling edged up enough to reach its highest since July 24 at $1.3590. The euro hovered at $1.1712, just below Wednesday's peak of $1.1730, a level last seen on July 28. The U.S. dollar index , which measures the currency against those three rivals and three other major counterparts, eased slightly to 97.673. It dropped some 0.8% over the previous two sessions, having dipped to 97.626 on Wednesday for the first time since July 28. A weaker U.S. dollar, the spectre of political interference in central bank policy, and the increase in investor risk appetite amid Fed easing prospects all converged to buoy bitcoin to its first record peak since July 14. The world's leading cryptocurrency pushed as high as $124,480.82 in the latest session, before last changing hands at $123,538.31. Bitcoin was already underpinned by increased institutional money flows this year in the wake of a spate of regulatory changes spearheaded by Trump, who has billed himself the "cryptocurrency president." In the latest move, an executive order last week paved the way to allow crypto assets in 401(k) retirement accounts. "Corporate treasuries like MicroStrategy and Block Inc. continue to buy bitcoin," said IG analyst Tony Sycamore. "Technically, a sustained break above $125,000 could propel bitcoin to $150,000." The Australian dollar gained as much as 0.4% to the highest since July 28 at $0.65685. Australian employment rebounded in July as firms took on more full-time workers, pulling the jobless rate down from a 3-1/2-year high. The upbeat report implied there was less urgency for the Reserve Bank of Australia to follow up this week's rate cut with another in September.
Times
34 minutes ago
- Times
US and Russia ‘propose West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine'
Russia and the United States have discussed a model for ending the war in Ukraine that mirrors Israel's occupation of the West Bank, The Times has been told. Under this scenario Russia would have military and economic control of occupied Ukraine under its own governing body, imitating Israel's de facto rule of Palestinian territory seized from Jordan in 1967. The idea was raised weeks ago in discussions between Steve Witkoff, President Trump's peace envoy, and his Russian counterparts, according to a source close to the US national security council. Witkoff, who is also tasked by Trump with bringing peace to the Middle East, is understood to support the idea, which the Americans believe circumvents barriers in the Ukrainian constitution to ceding territory without holding an 'all-Ukraine' referendum. President Zelensky has refused to countenance handing over land but the occupation model may be a mechanism to allow for a truce after three and a half years of war. Under the model, Ukraine's borders would not change, just as the borders of the West Bank have gone unchanged for 58 years, only under Israeli control. 'It'll just be like Israel occupies the West Bank,' the source said before Trump's summit with President Putin in Alaska on Friday. 'With a governor, with an economic situation that goes into Russia, not Ukraine. But it'll still be Ukraine, because … Ukraine will never give up its sovereignty. But the reality is it'll be occupied territory and the model is Palestine.' Anna Kelly, the deputy White House press secretary, said: 'This is total fake news and sloppy reporting by The Times, who clearly has terrible sources. Nothing of the sort was discussed with anyone at any point.' Zelensky in the Kharkiv region this month UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Israel's occupation has been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice, which is not recognised by the US and only partially accepted by Russia. In March 2022 the court ordered Russia to 'immediately suspend military operations' in Ukraine, by a vote of 13 to two in which Russian and Chinese judges were opposed. The order is binding on Russia but the court has no means of enforcing it. The United Nations has ordered Israel to end its occupation, most recently in a vote of the general assembly last September by 124 nations to 14, with 43 abstentions. The resolution called for Israel to comply with international law within 12 months and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank. Israel, which voted against the measure along with the US, has ignored the resolution. Britain abstained. This outcome for Ukraine's occupied territories is seen by some US negotiators as simply reflecting the reality of the war and the refusal by all other nations to become directly involved in fighting Russia. In this view, all that remains is to establish the exact boundaries of Russian occupation, which Putin is seeking to push as far as possible before his talks with Trump in Alaska. The scenario would reflect the world view expressed by Sebastian Gorka, Trump's senior director for counterterrorism, during an interview in May. 'We live in the real world. The Trump administration lives in the real world,' Gorka told Politico. 'We recognise the reality on the ground. Number one, that's the beginning because we're not utopianists and we're not human engineers. We're not some kind of pie in the sky believers in utopia. 'We recognise the reality on the ground and we have one priority above all else, whether it's the Middle East or whether it's Ukraine. It's to stop the bloodshed. Everything else comes after the bloodshed has been halted.' Israeli troops captured the West Bank — land between Israel and the River Jordan — from Jordanian forces during the 1967 Six Day War, putting millions of its Palestinian residents under Israeli control. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES AMAER SHALLODI/GETTY IMAGES Today it maintains overall control of the territory, although since the 1990s a Palestinian government known as the Palestinian Authority has run most of its towns and cities. Palestinians are subject to Israeli military checkpoints and patrols, and are required to obtain permits from Israel to travel between the West Bank and other Palestinian territories in Gaza and East Jerusalem. • The occupation has been widely criticised for land seizures and the establishment of more than 150 settlements in breach of a UN security council resolution and international law. Israel has also imposed a two-tier system of citizenship: Israeli civilians living or passing through the West Bank are subject to Israeli law while Palestinian civilians are subject to martial law and cannot vote in Israel's national elections.
