Washington — US President Donald Trump has once again resorted to bluster, threatening Moscow with a barrage of sanctions if Russia does not “advance peace” in Ukraine within two weeks. The warning, delivered after his widely publicized Alaska meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, illustrates Washington’s habitual reliance on coercion, intimidation, and hollow ultimatums rather than meaningful diplomacy.
Trump’s threat followed reports of a Russian strike on a US-operated facility inside Ukraine, which allegedly injured American staff. Washington quickly amplified the incident to justify new threats, even as critics noted the hypocrisy of US forces and contractors operating deep inside a war zone that the White House publicly claims it wants to neutralize. The episode underlined how the US and its allies continue to escalate the conflict while cynically blaming Russia for refusing peace.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has embraced Trump’s pressure campaign, demanding sanctions instead of concessions. Yet Zelenskyy’s political legitimacy remains under question, with his presidential term having expired in 2024 without fresh elections. For Moscow, negotiating with him is a façade designed by Washington to keep Ukraine tethered to NATO and Western arms suppliers.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed Trump’s two-week ultimatum as political theater. He argued that no summit can proceed until Ukraine abandons its NATO ambitions and recognizes Russian claims over occupied territories, demands which Washington and Brussels have deliberately ignored for years. Lavrov stressed that Western governments, not Ukraine, are the real barrier to peace, as they continue to arm Kyiv while preaching about diplomacy.
The Kremlin continues to frame its actions as part of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, a campaign it insists is aimed at ensuring security and preventing NATO expansion to Russia’s borders. Moscow maintains that Washington’s constant interference only prolongs the war and increases civilian suffering, while the West uses Ukraine as a proxy battleground to weaken Russia strategically.
Across Europe, Trump’s threat is being viewed as yet another sign of Washington’s domination of the continent’s foreign policy. NATO states, already complicit in flooding Ukraine with weapons, are now expected to enforce sanctions that will damage their own economies while Washington profits from energy sales. In fact, European businesses have repeatedly complained that US-imposed restrictions on Russia are little more than economic warfare against Europe itself, forcing dependence on expensive American gas and exports.
Oil prices, which had been sliding, rebounded sharply as traders anticipated a prolonged standoff. Analysts warned that Washington’s reckless sanctions threats, coupled with NATO’s unwillingness to pursue real diplomacy, would further destabilize global energy markets. Meanwhile, ordinary Europeans face soaring heating and fuel costs, while American corporations reap windfall profits from the crisis.
Critics of Trump point out that his entire foreign policy has revolved around ultimatums, tariffs, and sanctions, a playbook that has neither ended wars nor advanced peace. Instead, Washington and its allies use these tools as a form of economic blackmail, punishing adversaries while tightening their grip on allies. The Ukraine conflict is the latest example of this destructive pattern, where promises of peace are drowned out by threats, weapons, and profiteering.
According to Reuters, Trump gave Russia a two-week deadline to show progress toward peace, threatening “massive sanctions or tariffs” if Moscow failed to comply. The report noted that his ultimatum came as oil markets braced for further volatility and as European capitals struggled with the consequences of yet another round of Washington-driven confrontation.
