Russia responds to Donald Trump’s ultimatum

Trump’s threat of imposing tariffs and sanctions on Russia pressures Moscow to negotiate, but Kremlin resists while tensions and uncertainties intensify globally

Russia responded to President Donald Trump’s warning that he will impose fees and sanctions herself is not “making a deal” soon and ending the war with Ukraine.

Russian vice-editor in the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, told Reuters that it all depends on what a “agreement” means, and Kremlin said he sees “no new element here.”

Newsweek has contacted Trump’s transition team for comments by email outside business hours.

Why does it matter

Trump’s threat can not only have harmful effects on Moscow’s already fragile economy, but also increase tensions between Russia and the US and make peace negotiations with Ukraine more difficult. Imposition of tariffs and sanctions may also have long -term branches in global markets, as imposed property rates by either countries can affect other countries that import these products.

In addition, rates on Russian products can also indirectly affect US consumers, impacting prices on the US market, especially with materials made from certain metals that the country no longer matters, according to the US Treasury Department.

What to know

In a publication on the Social Truth on January 22, Trump threatened the Russian economy and wrote that “it will only get worse. If we do not make a ‘deal.’ ”He added that he has no ‘another choice but imposing high taxes, rates and sanctions on anything sold by Russia on the United States and several other participating countries.”

In response, Polyanskiy told Reuters: “It’s not just a matter of ending the war. It is, first of all, a matter of approaching the deep causes of the Ukrainian crisis. ”

He added that “we have to see what the ‘agreement’ means in the understanding of President Trump. He has not been responsible for what the US has been doing in Ukraine since 2014, making it ‘anti-russian’ and preparing for the war with us, but it is now in its power to stop this malicious policy, ”as reported by Sky News.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also responded to Trump’s threat of sanctions and fares and said to reporters: “We see no particularly new elements here. He likes these methods, at least he liked it during his first term. ”

He added that Moscow is closely monitoring the president’s statements and that “we carefully record all the nuances. We remain ready for dialogue, the president [Vladimir] Putin already said that repeatedly; For an egalitarian dialogue, for a mutually respectful dialogue. ”

Putin made a similar statement shortly after Trump’s inauguration. He met with high employees and said he was willing to seek peace negotiations with the new administration if the parties could eliminate “the deep causes” of the war.

The pressure of the US President for Moscow to end the war came shortly after his inauguration, as he said, before returning to the White House, that he would end the war in “24 hours,” later adjusting the deadline to six months. Trump’s nominee for special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, made similar statements and said he believed peace could be reached in 100 days.

Since the beginning of the war with Ukraine, Russia has been the target of sanctions from various western countries, many of them from the US.

Sanctions directed to the Moscow shadow fleet, a direct blow to the country’s energy sector, were imposed on January 10. Trump’s team is allegedly elaborating plans for future oil sanctions to press Russia to end the war, as reported by Bloomberg.

What people are saying

In an X post, previously known as Twitter, Bill Kristol, director of Defending Democracy Together, wrote: “But Russia is already prevented from selling anything in the US. Therefore, this threat of ‘taxes, tariffs and sanctions’ seems empty. If Trump wants to press Putin, it needs to increase support for Ukraine. Otherwise, it’s just Trump’s weak rhetoric that Putin will ignore. ”

Peter Baker, chief of the White House of The New York Times, wrote: “Trump threatens to impose taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on Russia if she does not negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine. But for two years, sanctions have not forced Russia to stop war, and there is almost no trade between the US and Russia to impose tariffs first.

“All trade between the US and Russia in the first 11 months of 2024 was only $ 3.4 billion compared to, for example, $ 700 billion in the same period between the US and Canada. Russia’s minimum trade with the US has already fallen from $ 20 billion by 2022. ”

What happens next

It is not yet known when the US and Ukraine peace negotiations, mediated by the US, will begin and if Moscow is willing to make concessions to end the war.