Panic in the henhouse, or did Putin react to Trump's ultimatum

Exclusive. The US president called on dictator Putin to immediately end the war, noting that if this does not happen, "it will only get worse." Trump has warned that he is ready to impose taxes, duties and sanctions on all goods that Russia trades with the United States and by other "agreed [with such measures] countries". And he promised to introduce restrictions if Moscow refuses to conclude peace in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump

"If we do not make a 'deal', and in the near future, I will have no other choice but to impose high taxes, duties and sanctions on everything that Russia sells to the United States and other countries that agree [with such measures]. Let's end this war, which would never have started if I were president! - wrote the American leader in his account on the Truth Social social network. — We can do it the easy way or the hard way — and the easy way is always better. The time has come to "make a deal", and he added that "NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!".

Trump said that he was going to "provide Russia, whose economy is collapsing, and President Putin a very big SERVICE."

"Calm down now and stop this ridiculous war! IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. If we do not conclude a "deal" - and soon," the US president threatened the Russian dictator.

A day earlier, Trump allowed the introduction of new sanctions against the Russian Federation. "We are talking with [President of Ukraine Volodymyr] Zelensky. We will talk with President Putin very soon and see how everything will go," he said during a meeting with journalists at the White House.

Donald Trump also spoke about studying the issue of further arms supplies to Ukraine. "We are studying this issue," the American leader said. So he commented on the question of Washington's intention to continue supplying Kyiv with weapons. In December 2024, the newspaper Financial Times wrote that Trump will continue supplies without any conditions in order to appease the US's European allies, who before and after his re-election expressed concern about their ability to fully support Ukraine as before.

Trump's ultimatum provoked an uproar in the henhouse of propagandists of all stripes, who even yesterday were talking about the fact that "Trump is ours."

"Look at Trump. He does not appear as the president of the United States, but as the master of the world. He gives ultimatums. But who is he to threaten Russia? He doesn't even know the history of the Second World War very well, let him study it to know the victorious nation," for example, State Duma deputy from the pro-Putin United Russia party, member of the defense committee, General Andrey Gurulev, said on the air of the Rossiya 1 TV channel. By the way, to some extent we agree with this "luminary of history" - victory in the Second World War was won not by Russia, but by the Soviet Union, which included 16 (including the Karelo-Finnish SSR) union republics. And the announced number of casualties of 60 million people is quite real, if we take into account the people destroyed by Soviet power in concentration camps and other inhumane experiments.

And while they were squawking in the chicken coop, the Kremlin declared that they were ready for dialogue.

"We are very attentively watching, of course, all rhetoric, all statements. We carefully fix all the nuances. We will remain ready for dialogue, as President Putin has repeatedly said, for equal dialogue, mutually respectful dialogue. This dialogue took place between the two presidents. Again, during Trump's first presidency. And we are waiting for signals, which have not yet been received," said the official representative of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.

Such obvious subordination and humiliation is quite understandable, because Putin is increasingly concerned about the state of the Russian economy, which the agency writes about Reuters, citing information from five sources familiar with the situation. For the last three years, the Russian economy, driven by the export of oil, gas and other minerals, has somehow held back around zero, But for several months, domestic economic activity has become increasingly tense due to labor shortages and high interest rates set to combat inflation, which has accelerated against the backdrop of unprecedented military spending. Among a part of the Russian elite, the opinion spread in favor of ending the war through negotiations.

Taking into account the fact that on January 10, the administration of US President Joe Biden introduced the toughest sanctions against the Russian energy industry in recent years, the year 2025 promises to be catastrophic. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that this step would give Trump leverage to put pressure on Russia in possible negotiations. However, as we can see, the 47th president himself is not averse to throwing a piece of wood into the fire under the cauldron in which Putin is simmering.

Increasing sanctions pressure on Russia is one of the effective ways to force the aggressor to switch from war to honest diplomacy. However, the priority for Ukraine is peace, which must be fair and stable and supported by real security guarantees.

Vera Perovskaya