Trump sets conditions for Russia sanctions
US President Donald Trump has called on Nato countries to step up the economic pressure on Russia, and made new US sanctions contingent on their doing so. All allies must stop buying oil from Russia, Trump demanded on his online platform Truth Social. He also urged Nato countries to impose high tariffs on China as a bloc. Are his demands justified?
Wait for the next letter
Rzeczpospolita doubts that Trump's new plan will come to anything:
“Just as was the case with his previous threats to impose tariffs and sanctions including secondary tariffs against countries such as China that support Russia's war machine by buying oil and gas from Putin, which all came to nothing. Nor can we expect all other Nato countries to be willing to deal a major economic blow to Russia and China. In the case of China, it's even doubtful that a majority of them would support such a move. So what next? We'll have to wait for Trump's next letter. And strengthen our defence capabilities together with other willing countries threatened by Russia.”
Not willing to put Moscow under pressure
The US president is effectively saying he won't impose sanctions on Russia, writes blogger and financial analyst Sergey Fursa in a Facebook post picked up by Censor.net:
“In effect, he is telling the EU: 'Either you join my trade war against China or I'm not prepared to talk about putting pressure on Russia.' But of course, the EU won't go along with this – it won't hurt its own economy to help Trump, who has lost against China, to save face. But above all that wouldn't put any pressure on Russia because China won't make any concessions. ... Moreover, the reliability of Trump's promises is limited, and even if the EU were to accept his terms – which seems unrealistic – his affection for Putin could give rise to other whims at any time.”
What will it take to make the US president wake up?
When will Trump finally recognise Putin for what he is? Reflex asks:
“Trump's cautious statements show one thing: he has not yet understood the aggressive strategy of Putin's dictatorship and is trying to ignore it. But this only underscores the failure of his own peace initiatives, which paradoxically, despite certain humiliating manoeuvres such as in Alaska, have not led to a ceasefire but rather to an escalation in Russian demands and an intensification of its military operations – this time even on the territory of a Nato member state. The drone attack on Poland should also have served as a wake-up call for the American president.”
Weakening the military alliance from within
The White House boss is becoming a liability for Nato, Público concludes:
“It remains the most powerful military alliance in the world. Nato's problem is whether the United States will continue to stand by Article 5, which guarantees collective defence and constitutes its most powerful deterrent. Nato's problem is Donald Trump and his world-view, which doesn't include the concept of forging permanent alliances for defending democracies – in Europe as in Asia – against autocratic regimes while respecting international law.”
Europe must do more and talk less
Trump has definitely hit a sore spot, the Tages-Anzeiger observes:
“Europe often talks about how daunting and epoch-making the threat from Russia is, and how much its own security depends on the outcome of the war. But despite this, Europe continues to buy billions of euros worth of Russian oil, natural gas and other goods every year, thereby filling the Kremlin's war chest. At best, the European sanctions against China can be described as ridiculous, even though the regime in Beijing is doing everything it can to support Russia and has openly declared in Brussels that it has no interest in ending the war. ... It is this gap between the alleged seriousness of the threat and the still half-hearted defensive measures that Trump is denouncing.”