Latest news with #Article5
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Sanctions eroding USD's global reach
History may hold US President Donald Trump responsible for undermining the pervasive influence of his country in several international agencies dating back to when the US was the sole superpower - from 1989 subsequent to the collapse of the Soviet Union roughly around 2017: World Trade Organisation (WTO) by raising tariffs on all imports into the US, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (insisting on greater equality in contributions by member countries and threatening to revisit Article 5 which stipulates that all member countries will come to the assistance of a member if attacked), and International Atomic Energy Agency (by bombing nuclear sites in Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory Iran thereby taking away the protection implicit to signatories). But what President Trump cannot be solely held responsible for is the global momentum towards de-dollarisation mainly due to the overuse of sanctions by administrations dating back to 2000, including his own first term. Sanctions have become the tool of first resort for American presidents, which has compelled heavily sanctioned countries to consider trading in a currency other than the dollar through a messaging/transfer system that is not hostage to US-led sanctions. The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecomm unication (SWIF T) was founded in 1973, essentially to replace telex, and has since become a global provider of secure financial messaging services. It is headquartered in Belgium and is a member owned cooperative connecting 11000 banks, financial institutions and corporations in more than 200 countries/territories and is overseen by G-10 banks — Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and USA – countries defined as the West, unequivocally led by the US. In 2006-07, SWIFT allowed financial institutions to comply with FATF SR VII (fighting terrorist financing by mentioning more detailed information about the payment ordering customer). SWIFT then began to liaise closely with Financial Action Task Force to combat money laundering and terror related financing by providing information and data and worked with the US Treasury's terrorist finance tracking program. In 2010 financial institutions began to include underlying customer information; and to comply with sanction laws, increasingly used by the US-led West as a foreign policy tool. However, SWIFT maintained that compliance rested with financial institutions and competent authorities and that it did not arbitrarily select which jurisdiction's sanctions to follow but because it is incorporated in Belgium it complies with related European Union regulation, confirmed by the Belgium government. In 2012, twenty-nine years after SWIFT was founded, it's framework was reviewed, and a SWIFT Oversight Forum was established in which the G-10 banks were joined by ten other central banks from major economies: Reserve Bank of Australia, People's Bank of China, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Reserve Bank of India, Bank of Korea, Bank of Russia, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Monetary Authority of Singapore, South African Reserve Bank and Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. The influence of the Bank of Russia, sanctioned by the US, is non-existent, given that Western banks have frozen the 300 billion dollars of Russian reserves they held and appropriated the interest and on-lent it to Ukraine. Notwithstanding SWIFT's claims of neutrality three subsequent decisions allowed the US-led West to determine which country or entity was to be sanctioned, and the selection in at least three cases, notably Iran, North Korea and Russia, mirrored US foreign policy thrust. In 2012, pursuant to international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran, EU regulation 267/2012 was passed – a regulation that prohibited SWIFT from providing service to EU sanctioned Iranian banks. In March 2016 SWIFT restricted access of North Korean banks, reportedly due to UN sanctions and concerns about their role in illicit activities. And in 2022, two days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at Ukraine government's request, SWIFT disconnected all designated Russian entities and their Russian based subsidiaries/entities as well as Belorussian and the country's designated subsidiaries from SWIFT Network in compliance with the EU Council Regulation (765/2006). Today 1400 financial institutions in over 100 countries use CIPS which relies on SWIFT's messaging service for over 80 percent of its transactions. It uses SWIFTs standard for syntax in financial messages as those formatted to SWIFT standards can be read and processed by many well-known financial processing systems, whether or not the message travelled over the SWIFT network. Be that as it may, due to digital real time transfer of funds, SWIFT is unlikely to remain the primary source of money transfer for long. China overtook the US in purchasing power parity (PPP) nine years ago in 2016, and by 2022 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rated the Chinese economy in PPP terms to be 23 percent larger than the US, the World Bank rated it 19.8 percent larger than the US and even the CIA considered China larger by 16 percent. No doubt fully cognizant of its growing economic power, in 2015 Peoples Bank of China launched a Cross Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to (i) facilitate international Renmibi transactions; (ii) provide real time clearing and settlement; and (iii) operate independently and alongside SWIFT. It is a matter of time that with the rising rivalry between China and the US, CIPS may delink from SWIFT sooner rather than later. In 2021 Shaikh Muhammad Shariq, Chief Representative of the National Bank of Pakistan, while addressing the Pakistan Investment Forum and the Cross-border E-commerce Conference held in Pakistani Embassy Beijing noted that 'ICBC and Bank of China, Karachi branches are providing CNY clearing & settlement services in Pakistan. ICBC Karachi branch has also obtained the direct participation qualification of the first cross-border CNY clearing mechanism of CIPS in South Asia to facilitate and ensure quick and smooth CNY clearing to improve bilateral trade.' Another emerging platform, BRICS (Brazil Russia India China South Africa), has begun talks on replacing the dollar and developing an alternate payment system bypassing SWIFT and reducing reliance on Western financial institutions. This demand is not only from the sanctioned countries but also other countries grappling with Trump tariffs, demand to curtail economic and trade relations with China and last but not least due to the ongoing de-dollarization of the global economy. In 2021, the Atlantic Council concluded that sanctions have a poor record, rarely change a target's behaviour and often generate negative unintended consequences, and urged US policymakers to focus on whether sanctions are likely to produce the desired result rather than simply serving as a tool to signal displeasure. That exhortation has yet to resonate with the Trump administration and the threat of punitive sanctions against Russia in 50 days, unless it agrees to the terms of a ceasefire dictated by the US, would generate secondary sanctions (defined as those countries that continue to trade with Russia). Neither Russia nor its major trading partners, China, Brazil and India, appear to be concerned with China's s Xi Xinpeng dismissing the threat by stating that China would deepen its ties with Russia. To conclude, Pakistan's trade with Russia is less than one billion dollars while our trade with the US is around 3 billion dollars, less than 4 percent of the sum of our exports and imports, however the US exercises tremendous influence over all multilateral institutions (barring the Infrastructure Bank set up by China) – institutions from which Pakistan borrows heavily to avert the existing looming threat of default (ironically since 2019 even China has shown a reluctance to extend rollovers to Pakistan without being on a rigidly monitored IMF programme) and hence the threat of secondary sanctions by the US are going to play a key role in the country's decision to trade with Russia. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Time Magazine
4 days ago
- Business
- Time Magazine
The Trump Era of Flattery Diplomacy is Here
'Flattery will get you everywhere.' That line, attributed to the actress Mae West, came to mind Monday, watching NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte cheer as President Donald Trump—for the second time in as many months—announced a 180-degree u-turn in his administration's foreign policy. Trump said the U.S. would sell 'billions of dollars worth' of offensive and defensive weaponry to Europe for transshipment to Ukraine. And he issued an ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin: make peace with Ukraine in 50 days, or face sanctions against your country and those who do business with you. Until Monday, Trump had made no such pledges for Ukraine, and few demands of Putin—certainly none with a clear 'or else' attached. A few weeks earlier, at the NATO summit in The Hague, Rutte beamed as Trump pledged his full-throated support for the alliance. It was another about-face; on the eve of the summit Trump had equivocated on U.S. security commitments to NATO, and his disdain for the alliance was longstanding. Now he was a NATO booster. What changed, exactly? And what's flattery got to do with it? Nearly everything, it turns out. Both Trump turnarounds can be traced to Rutte, the former Dutch Prime Minister who took the reins at NATO last October and has had a stunningly successful couple of months. At the June summit, he won pledges from members to spend 5% of GDP on defense, and ringing endorsements from Trump. And there was Rutte in the Oval Office Monday, a key broker of the new deal for Ukraine. What happened to alter the course of these U.S. policies? Among other things, Rutte showed the world how Trump flattery is done; Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky took something of a crash course in the same subject; and Putin, resting on his long-held view that Trump would never cross him, skipped the flattery, made over-the-phone promises to Trump and then broke them. Read More: Why Trump's U-Turn on Ukraine Matters If it seems frivolous to suggest that a polishing of the commander-in-chief's ego has turned the tide of global affairs, consider Trump's relationship with NATO. On the campaign trail in 2016, Trump called NATO 'obsolete' and threatened to pull the U.S. from the alliance. More recently he said, of member nations that didn't pull their weight, "I would not protect you…In fact, I would encourage [the Russians] to do whatever the hell they want.' On the eve of last month's summit, he refused to publicly commit the U.S. to NATO's Article 5, which compels every member to come to the defense of another. As for Ukraine, in February Trump called Zelensky a dictator, berated him in that now-infamous Oval Office meeting, and offered to reopen commercial and diplomatic ties with the Kremlin—a stinging blow to Ukraine and NATO both. No new American aid pledges for Kyiv were in the works. Enter Rutte, who knew Trump from his time as Prime Minister, and who got to work buttering up the American president. He began by repeatedly crediting Trump with prodding NATO members to boost their defense spending. At the White House in March, Rutte said, NATO nations 'want to work together with you… to make sure that we will have a NATO which is newly invigorated under your leadership.' That was fair enough—not overly fawning, and largely true. Trump wasn't the only leader to push for more NATO military spending, but no president had pressed the point harder. On the eve of the June summit, Rutte took things to another level. While leaders across Western Europe were condemning or questioning Trump's air strikes against Iran, NATO's leader cheered them on. 'Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran,' Rutte wrote in a private message that Trump quickly made public. 'That was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer.' In the same message, Rutte linked the Iran strikes to the coming summit. 'You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not easy but we've got them all signed onto 5 percent! Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,' applauded Rutte. 'You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win. Safe travels and see you at His Majesty's dinner!' To some the missive reeked of El Pais called Rutte's performance 'flattery diplomacy, bordering on outright vassalage.' But even critics could admire the tactics. Rutte wasn't just flattering the president, he was using Trump's syntax ('big success,' 'your win,' etc.), the occasional word in CAPS, and the use of exclamation marks too. At the summit, Rutte called Trump a 'man of strength…and peace,' and when the subject of Middle Eastern diplomacy arose, the NATO leader said of Trump, 'Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop.' It's hard to overstate the White House shifts that followed. Rutte won an alliance statement, agreed to by the U.S., that Russia was 'a profound security threat' (the Trump Administration previously hadn't even agreed to name Russia as the 'aggressor' in Ukraine), along with a 'commitment to NATO' and to Article 5. '100 percent,' Trump said of the latter—having refused, three days earlier, to commit to it at all. If there was any doubt that the flattery had done its work, Trump put that to rest. 'They were so respectful of me,' he said. After all those years spent blasting NATO members for 'ripping off' the U.S., Trump said, 'I left here differently…It's not a rip‑off, and we are here to help them protect their country.' President Trump said he was grateful for the hospitality at the summit. 'I want to thank them for the royal treatment,' he said of his hosts at The Hague. 'Couldn't have been nicer.' Trump also singled out Rutte: 'He's been terrific.' This week it was Ukraine's turn to enjoy the fruits of the flattery. The arrangement announced Monday—the U.S. sells weapons to Europe, Europe delivers them to Ukraine—was brokered by Rutte. Once again, the NATO Secretary General was in the Oval Office for the announcement, and ready to heap praise on the American president. "This is a clear signal that President Trump is serious,' Rutte told Fox News after the announcements. 'He wants peace. He hates the fact that so many people lose their lives in Ukraine." Until recently, Trump had evinced few such sympathies. But since that Oval Office debacle, Zelensky had done his Trump homework, too. He wrote to Trump in early March extolling the president's 'strong leadership' and thanked him effusively for a six-year-old gift of anti-tank weapons. 'The moment when things changed [was] when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins,' Zelensky wrote. (A stretch, perhaps, given that the Javelins were sent three years before Russia's full-scale invasion). In a long message on X, Zelensky praised 'President Trump's concept of peace through strength,' and in April he applauded Trump's 'vision' after a meeting at the Vatican—'our best conversation yet,' he said. Every Zelensky message was a blend of praise and gratitude, leavened with reminders about what the Kremlin was up to. Which brings us to Putin. Theories abound as to why Trump has so regularly stood by the Russian leader. Trump praised him as a 'savvy' statesman, a 'genius,' and in 2018, a man Trump said he trusted more than his own intelligence community. Whatever the case, Putin—a longtime Trump flatterer himself—may have imagined he no longer needed to play that game. He watched the Zelensky-Trump meltdown, took the calls from Trump and his envoys, made pledges and broke them. And at some point over the past few weeks and months, as Rutte and Zelensky were playing their hands , something changed. Trump stopped calling Zelensky a dictator. After a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Trump said Zelensky 'couldn't have been nicer,' and commended him and the people of Ukraine for fighting 'a brave battle.' As for Putin, Trump blasted his 'bullsh-t' promises, something other leaders and analysts had been familiar with for years. Read More: Finally, Trump Seems to Get Putin Then came this week's weapons deal along with more sympathy for Ukraine and more praise for NATO and its leader. Rutte has made no apologies for his approach to Trump. 'I think when somebody deserves praise, that praise should be given,' he told The New York Times. As for those who skewered him for over-the-top flattery, he said, 'I know about criticism, but I don't care. In the end, I need to do my job. I have to keep the whole of NATO together. And the biggest ally is the United States.' Neither Rutte nor Zelensky can claim the prize of flatterer-in-chief; surely that honor goes to Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who last week nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and handed his nomination letter to Trump, as the cameras rolled. 'It's well deserved, and you should get it,' Netanyahu said. But Israel hardly needed a sea change in the Trump view of his country. Neither did the Qataris who gifted Trump a luxury jet, nor British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who handed Trump an invitation from King Charles for a state dinner. In the case of NATO and Ukraine, however, they were in rough waters, as it were, and in their own ways, both were desperate for American support, and a turning of the tide. Of course things can change quickly in the Trump world view, and the pendulum may swing back. But for now this much seems clear: Ukraine will get more U.S. weapons, and NATO will get more robust American support, because a pair of world leaders were good students of how best to flatter the American president. As Mae West might have said, sometimes a little flattery can go a long way.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Missiles, mutual aid, and a drone factory: UK and Germany sign historic defence treaty with eye on Russia and Trump's NATO drift
The UK and Germany have signed their first bilateral treaty since the Second World War, signalling a renewed alliance focused on European defence. The Kensington Treaty , inked in London by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz , comes at a time of mounting pressure in Europe due to Russia's war in Ukraine and doubts over future US involvement in NATO . At its core, the treaty pledges mutual assistance in the event of an armed attack. Both nations already fall under NATO's Article 5 protection, but this move adds a bilateral layer of assurance. It also cements collaboration on defence production and military technology. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Finance MCA Digital Marketing Data Analytics Cybersecurity MBA Technology others Operations Management Management Degree Public Policy CXO Project Management Others Leadership Design Thinking Artificial Intelligence Data Science PGDM healthcare Data Science Product Management Healthcare Skills you'll gain: Duration: 7 Months S P Jain Institute of Management and Research CERT-SPJIMR Fintech & Blockchain India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 Months IIM Calcutta SEPO - IIMC CFO India Starts on undefined Get Details 'We see the scale of the challenges our continent faces today, and we intend to meet them head on,' said Starmer at a joint press conference held at an Airbus facility in Stevenage. Merz described the occasion as 'a historic day for German-British relations,' adding, 'We want to work together more closely, particularly after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union . It is overdue for us to conclude such a treaty with each other.' Defence ties beyond NATO The treaty lays out a broad defence agenda. It commits both sides to joint export campaigns for weapons systems such as Typhoon fighter jets and Boxer armoured vehicles, with plans to develop a new long-range precision missile over the next decade. German drone manufacturer Stark will also open a production site in the UK to aid Ukraine's defence effort. Live Events Importantly, the treaty includes a shared commitment to 'assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other,' although the practical significance remains to be seen given NATO's overlapping obligations. Merz was clear about the treaty's central theme. 'Defence is the thread running through the treaty,' he said after the signing ceremony at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Building a united European response Both Starmer and Merz placed the treaty within a broader European context, especially after French President Emmanuel Macron's recent visit to the UK. There, France and Britain agreed for the first time to coordinate their nuclear deterrents. Germany, which does not have nuclear weapons, will instead maintain 'a close dialogue on defence issues of mutual interest … including on nuclear issues,' according to the treaty. Merz said, 'The E3 – Great Britain, France and Germany – are converging in their positions on foreign policy, on security policy, on migration policy, but also on economic policy issues.' He made it clear that his trip to London just one week after Macron's was no accident. 'It was no coincidence,' he said. 'We are really on the way to a new chapter.' Ukraine and the 'coalition of the willing' As Ukraine remains under siege, the UK, Germany and France are leading efforts to maintain support for Kyiv. Trump's proposal to sell US weapons to NATO allies, who would then deliver them to Ukraine, was discussed at the meeting. Merz said the arrangement was still being ironed out, and that it could take 'days, perhaps weeks' before weapons reach the front line. He stressed the need for a replacement plan from Washington, saying, 'Above all, we need clarity on how weapons systems that are given up from the European side will be replaced by the US.' Starmer pointed to the need for diplomatic groundwork as well. 'The first step is to get [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to the table for an unconditional ceasefire,' he said, according to the BBC. The leaders also discussed the idea of a peacekeeping force, should a future ceasefire take hold. Talks under the so-called 'coalition of the willing' have already begun, involving the UK, France, and Germany. Migration measures gain legal teeth Alongside security matters, the treaty aims to strengthen efforts to stop illegal migration. In 2024, over 37,000 people crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats. More than 22,000 have arrived so far this year. Starmer said the treaty showed the UK and Germany 'mean business' when it comes to disrupting the criminal gangs behind these crossings. He also praised Berlin's promise to amend German law by year-end, making it a criminal offence to assist migrant smuggling to Britain. 'We've discussed this at great length,' Starmer said. '[The chancellor] is now going to change the law so that we can intervene.' Merz confirmed the plan and added, 'We want to drastically reduce illegal migration in Europe. We are on a good path, but we haven't reached the target yet.' A three-way push with France Merz proposed building on existing Franco-British migration deals to create a three-way returns agreement. 'The cooperation between the United Kingdom and France … has to be complemented by an agreement that we aim to achieve between the three of us: UK, Germany, France,' he said through a translator. The idea mirrors long-standing German ambitions for a strategic axis of leading European powers. Merz's predecessor and political mentor, Wolfgang Schäuble, had once envisioned a 'core Europe' driven by Berlin and Paris. Now, Britain has re-entered the fold, albeit outside the EU. Despite expressing his disapproval of Brexit, Merz acknowledged the reality. 'I personally deplore this deeply,' he said. 'But we are now learning that it's not enough, so we have to do more.' Ties beyond defence The Kensington Treaty doesn't just deal in weapons and laws. It includes agreements to expand cultural and educational exchanges, create a joint rail taskforce, and allow UK passport holders to use German e-gates. Merz welcomed a more flexible system for young people. 'I am glad we were able to reach an agreement so that schoolchildren and students can come to Britain more easily in the future, and the other way round can come to Germany more easily.' Though Starmer has ruled out rejoining the EU's single market or customs union, the treaty reflects his effort to mend fences after years of Brexit-inflicted strain. As both countries prepare to raise defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP, the Kensington Treaty signals something broader than just military planning. It shows a deliberate shift towards European-led action, just as the ground under the old alliances begins to shift. And for both leaders, it marks the beginning of a new political chapter. 'We had you in the European Union and we thought that was enough,' Merz said. 'But we are now learning that it's not enough, so we have to do more.' (with inputs from AP, Reuters) Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Trump's tariffs make us look like a monkey with a grenade
US President Donald Trump announced that he was immediately undertaking a programme to supply weapons to Nato for use in Ukraine. Image: AP US President Donald Trump's yo-yoing foreign policy continues to cause unprecedented ructions in international relations, with his sudden adoption of a hard stance against Russia the latest example of the dreaded unpredictability in diplomacy. One expert has likened President Trump's cantankerous approach to foreign relations to a 'monkey playing with a hand grenade'. In a typical flip-flop move this week, the US leader gave Russia 50 days to make a deal on ending the war with Ukraine or face 100% tariffs. In addition, Trump announced that he was immediately undertaking a programme to supply weapons to Nato for use in Ukraine at a cost of up to a trillion dollars. 'America will manufacture and supply, and Nato will pay,' he said. Leading Nato member-states — the UK, France and Germany, under the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz — have been leading the charge to arm Ukraine to the teeth, and have enthusiastically flirted with the idea of direct involvement in the conflict to defeat Russia. However, the apprehension to go to war with Russia without US backing has delayed the urge to confront Russia more directly. Instead, the three nations have led a public relations ramp-up of rhetoric against Russia, vowing to do everything in their power to ensure the attainment of a Ukrainian victory. On the information warfare front, the West started off by successfully cutting off the impactful Russian international TV station, Russia Today (RT) from its pre-war global reach. This was part of the strategy to win outright the Foucauldian battle over the framing of discourse, thereby influencing public opinion against Russia. But the advent of technology and social media has ensured the plurality of voices outside of the control of the traditional mainstream media. As such, RT continues to be available on other platforms such as Telegram. Lately, Nato has been particularly desperate to keep the Trump administration in the closest proximity, particularly in the wake of glaring indicators that Trump may no longer subscribe to Nato's Article 5, which refers to 'an attack on one is an attack on all'. The desperation to woo Trump was too conspicuous at the recent Nato summit in the Netherlands. Trying too hard to endear himself to Trump, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte went as far as referring to the US president as 'daddy'. The summit ended on a positive note for members, at least publicly, concealing the simmering differences inside the offensive military bloc. But NATO's jubilation could be short-lived. A week in politics can be long, but 50 days is definitely too long. I bet a lot will change. Trump is desperate for a Nobel Peace Prize. Stopping the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza is the White House's top priority. Any hindrance to the attainment of set objectives will be met with tariffs, sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and military might. Moscow insists that the Kremlin is willing and ready to negotiate a truce with Ukraine. However, in ending the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin insists that the root causes of the war need to be addressed as part of a permanent solution, and not a shortcut to the Nobel Prize. The fundamental concerns, according to Moscow, include Nato's expansion to Russia's doorstep, the threat to Russia's national security and overall resetting of the geopolitical architecture, among others. As things stand, Russia seems the least worried about Washington's latest threat of punitive measures. Instead, it is Nato that must worry — a lot. The unpredictable nature of Trump's foreign policy, the culture of acting on the spur of the moment and the deep sense of omnipotence ensure that only the US leader knows what tomorrow brings. But it is Trump's critical nature of unpredictability in diplomacy that I'd like to focus on. It is made more important, and perhaps urgent, by the similar utterances of the members of Trump's inner circle who, one day, say similar things in line with their principal, and the next day everything said is negated publicly by the principal himself. To illustrate this factor, I want to take a draw on the utterances of key figures in the Trump administration, starting with the President himself. A few months ago, Trump and his team publicly claimed that Ukraine 'is a corrupt dictatorship with no path for military victory'. He further accused Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky of 'talking' the US into spending $350 billion on Ukraine and then said the money was 'missing'. And then, JD Vance, the Vice President, said: 'Zelensky shouldn't tell the American taxpayers what to do.' Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, said Trump was 'rightly upset with the Kyiv regime' after the President had remarked that Zelensky was a 'dictator without election'. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also blasted Zelensky 'for banning opposition media, parties, the Orthodox Church, suspending elections and the constitution to stay in power'. Additionally, FBI Director Kash Patel asked where 'the 100-plus billion dollars in Ukraine aid went'? And then, former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said: 'Ukraine was and is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.' Such public utterances gave the clearest hint about what the Trump administration thinks about Ukraine. It is unfathomable to equate such remarks with a desire to send more weapons to Ukraine, directly or indirectly. The flip-flop demonstrated this week by Trump's U-turn on Ukraine — arming Kyiv through a third party in the form of Nato, does little to inspire global confidence in Washington's foreign policy. It blows hot and cold. It goes with the weather conditions. Does it obey money? So many questions, so many answers needed. According to veteran financial analyst and director of Goncharoff LLC, Paul Goncharoff, trust in the US is crumbling worldwide. Referring to President Trump's threat to sanction BRICS nations with a 10% tariff, Goncharoff said: 'Threatening most of the nations of our planet with unrealistic sanctions or tariffs if they trade in their own currencies and not with the US dollar is a poor way to gain trust.' The effect of the unipolar tariffs by the Trump administration makes the US look like 'a monkey playing with a grenade' in the eyes of the international community, Goncharoff said. Russia seems unbothered by Trump's threats and ultimatums. Moscow wants an amicable truce, not a shortcut to peace that would serve Trump's ambition to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Moscow has in its arsenal an abundant stockpile of nuclear weapons to defend itself against a Nato war. It is so unnecessary because WWIII would devastate the Earth with nukes. There may also not be anything that survives, least of all humans. That could be the price to pay as peace continues to be pushed away in favour of military confrontation. * Abbey Makoe is the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Global South Media Network ( The views expressed are personal. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
News18
5 days ago
- Politics
- News18
'I Trust Nobody': Trump Says He's ‘Disappointed But Not Done' With Putin
Last Updated: Russia-Ukraine War: Donald Trump expressed disappointment with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine aggression. US President Donald Trump said he is 'disappointed but not done" with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid continued aggression by Moscow in Ukraine. Speaking from the Oval Office, Donald Trump was asked whether he still trusts Vladimir Putin or not with respect to Ukraine peace talks. 'I trust almost nobody," the US President said bluntly, while reiterating that he still sees potential for a diplomatic breakthrough with Moscow, as per the BBC. This comes as Donald Trump unveiled plans to send weapons to Kyiv and warned of 'severe tariffs" on Russia if a ceasefire deal isn't reached within the next 50 days. 'We're working at it," Donald Trump told the BBC when asked how he would stop the bloodshed, adding, 'We'll have a great conversation. I'll say: 'That's good, I'll think we're close to getting it done' and then Putin will knock down a building in Kyiv." The US President claimed he had believed a deal to end the war was imminent on four separate occasions but said that each time Russia escalated military action in Ukraine. How Close Are Russia And Ukraine To A Peace Deal? Russia has ramped up its drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, leading to some of the highest civilian casualty tolls since the war began. The escalation comes more than two years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Despite the intensifying violence, Vladimir Putin has continued to claim he wants peace but only if what he describes as the war's 'root causes" are addressed as he has blamed the conflict on perceived external threats to Russia's security from Kyiv, NATO and what he calls the 'collective West." Earlier Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House where he supported the military alliance he once called 'obsolete" and affirmed support for Article 5, the mutual defense clause at the heart of the alliance. 'NATO is strong," Donald Trump said, adding, 'And it has to stay strong." view comments First Published: July 15, 2025, 15:53 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
