Looks like Russia is not exactly inclined to end the bloodshed in Eastern Europe any time soon, especially given the nation’s latest assault on Ukraine.
President Donald Trump recently made multiple headlines by putting Russian President Vladimir Putin on an effective 50-day deadline for a real ceasefire in Ukraine.
During a recent appearance with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump made his position explicitly clear.
“We’re very, very unhappy with [Russia], and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in about 50 days … We are very unhappy – I am – with Russia,” Trump declared.
This 50-day deadline aligns with the increased pressure that the administration has laid on Russia in general within the past several weeks, as it has become increasingly clear that the former superpower is hardly inclined to reduce hostilities.
Senator Lindsey Graham, for instance, has long been in favor of harsher penalties for Russia. This position was even clearer in a joint statement issued by Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal.
“It is long overdue for the financial backers of Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine to pay a price for buying cheap energy products and marking it up in order to benefit their economies. The days of doing this without consequences are coming to an end. The combination of more American-made, European-purchased weapons for Ukraine and tariffs on the financial backers of Putin’s brutal war has changed the game,” the senators wrote.
In addition, Vice President JD Vance startled the world with his bold response to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has been one of the louder hawks in Moscow.
After Medvedev issued strange commentary on Americans’ airstrikes in Japan, Vance promptly intervened, highlighting the “bizarre” nature of the response, especially as it aimed to speak for Putin himself.
“First of all, I think it’s a bizarre response, but I also don’t know that that guy speaks for President Putin or for the Russian government. [Russia has] been very consistent that they don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. I’ll let President [Vladimir] Putin speak to what the official Russian position on this is,” Vance remarked.
Well, Putin has made his “official position” clear now – and that position appears to be disregarding Trump entirely, at least thus far.
As noted by The Hill, Putin has slammed Ukraine “with another large-scale overnight attack,” seemingly impervious to the clock ticking down on the 50-day deadline given by Trump.
Per Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the attack primarily targeted energy infrastructure.
“Response efforts are still underway after last night’s Russian shelling. The Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions came under the heaviest attack. In particular, energy infrastructure was targeted – work is currently ongoing to restore everything in Kryvyi Rih as fully as possible, and power supply will be resumed during the day. Unfortunately, 15 people were injured, including one child. All are receiving the necessary medical care,” Zelenskyy asserted on X.
Zelenskyy also briskly noted that Russia was clearly not “changing its strategy.”
Will Russia change its strategy prior to the 50-day deadline?
Time remains to tell … but Putin would appear deeply defiant for now.
Author: Jane Jones
