Sanctions against Moscow are nothing new for President Vladimir Putin. Much less for Russia, given its history. A fortnight ago, the EU approved one of its strongest sanctions against the country, hitting hard on its military, energy, trade and banking sectors in another bid to weaken Russia’s ability to wage the war. Even though the message was clear — Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine, it was lost on the Russian President. Joining in a week later was Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs in 10 days if Moscow showed no progress towards ending its three-year-long war in Ukraine.
Russia, however, maintains a stoic stubbornness. A day later, the Kremlin said it continued to monitor statements by US President Donald Trump regarding sanctions against Moscow. It went on to add that Russia has “acquired immunity” to such measures, courtesy long “experience.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “We have been living under a huge number of sanctions for quite a long time, our economy operates under a huge number of restrictions. Therefore, we have already developed a certain level of immunity regarding sanctions. We also continue to note all statements coming from the US President and other international representatives in the matter.”
Donald Trump, Ukraine war and the U-turns
Countless unsuccessful attempts at ceasefire notwithstanding, the Russia-Ukraine war has entered its fourth year. The Trump administration is still searching for or rather running out of ways to give an aggressive nudge to Russia to end the war. The earlier deadline of 50 days being advanced to a mere 12 days depicts Trump’s growing impatience with Putin at a personal level.
Also read: Trump or IDF may be key to ending Gaza war, not UK or France
Even though the August 8-deadline given by him to Vladimir Putin to stop the war is right around the corner, hardly anything Trump says or does comes with the credibility of finality. He had promised to end the Ukraine war on his first day in office. Come February and he froze aid to Ukraine after the very public falling out with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office; only to resume supplies weeks later. At one point, he even accused Zelensky of starting the war, “When you start a war, you’ve got to know that you can win the war, right? You don’t start a war against somebody that’s 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.”
In February, after a telephonic conversation with Putin, Trump said negotiations to end the Ukraine war will start “immediately after holding a lengthy and productive” call with the Russian President. He even pronounced the Russian leader as “desirous of peace.”
Fast forward to July and Trump’s frustration is more than palpable. “We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
But from tactical shifts to sudden turnarounds, they have all been hallmarks of Trump’s equations with world leaders. Is it a surprise that analysts term his recent move as more of a rhetorical escalation instead of an irreversible one? However, as an extension of him being serious this time, the sanctions have been imposed on countries that import Russian oil — 25 per cent tariffs on India, being a case in point. Indian goods now face 25 per cent tariffs in the US as a penalty for buying arms and energy from Russia. Last week, while offended by posts of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Trump announced that he had ordered two nuclear submarines to unspecified “appropriate regions” as a response to the “highly provocative statements” from Moscow. Once again Russian news outlets have been dismissive of Trump’s statements.
Also read: No headway for 'peacemaker' Trump in Ukraine, Gaza
Why Russia is in no mood to concede
But how hard can it be for Putin to declare ceasefire and victory, cut his losses, and stop the bleeding and sanctions in one go? Over the last three-and-a-half years, it has gained less and comparatively lost more. As per the CSIS (Centre for Strategic and International Studies) data, Russian military forces have “seized limited territory, lost substantial quantities of equipment relative to Ukraine and suffered remarkably high rates of fatalities since January 2024.”
Hope still keeps Putin to stay at it — the hope of gaining new ground, wear out Ukrainian resolve and outsmart Kyiv’s defence strategies. Russia has paid a steep price for sustaining the war over the past three years and five months. Spiralling sanctions, a dipping economy, roughly one million battlefield casualties and the fear of a strengthened NATO couldn’t convince Putin to end the war. Donald Trump’s threats of looming sanctions are not nearly enough.
Follow us
