Democrats Accused Trump Of Helping Putin

The opposition rebuked Trump for threatening Putin with sanctions a lot, but he has never imposed them in six months.

The U.S. opposition has rebuked Donald Trump for repeatedly threatening Vladimir Putin with new sanctions for his invasion of Ukraine, but during his six months in office he has done nothing to increase pressure on Russia, only weakening the sanctions regime he inherited from the administration of Democrat Joe Biden, writes WBC.

The U.S. has not introduced a single new package of restrictions under Trump, compared with 16 in the previous six months. They did not support the February G7 sanctions on the anniversary of the invasion, nor the UK's new restrictions, nor the lowering of the Russian oil price ceiling approved by the European Union in July.

"President Trump has chosen to respond to Russian strikes on Kiev with a social media post instead of using the tools of economic pressure available to the United States," said the report, commissioned by two prominent Senate Democrats, Elizabeth Warren and Jean Shaheen.

"U.S. allies and adversaries alike are waiting to see how Trump's belated, endless threats to move to action and stop Russian aggression will turn out," the document said. - It is not yet clear what the next steps will be, but it is already clear that the Trump administration has been inactive for the past six months."

The report comes three days before Trump's ultimatum to Putin - ceasefire or sanctions - expires. The document makes recommendations to the White House. They are guaranteed to be ignored.

"There is no shortage of expert recommendations on how the U.S. could increase pressure on the Russian economy and Putin's entourage. Biden has not followed them, and I don't think Trump will," noted longtime Putin opponent and advocate of sanctions against Russia Garry Kasparov.

"Trump is threatening to increase support for Ukraine and paralyze Russia with sanctions. When he imposes them, then I'll believe him. So far, he has done almost nothing in spite of Putin on serious issues," Kasparov wrote.

Time is running out

Trump explained the pause in tightening sanctions by his desire to reach an amicable agreement with Putin. Time passes, Putin doesn't listen, and his army is bombing Ukraine with renewed vigor. Trump gets angry, flails and sends envoys to Moscow.

For six months of appeasement and entreaties, it is already clear that Trump's chosen strategy is not working, the authors of the report for the Democratic minority in the Senate wrote.

"The White House has maintained a prolonged pause in approving new sanctions and export restrictions despite all evidence that all their other approaches have been unsuccessful," the document said.

"Moreover, the administration risks giving the wrong impression as if even maintaining current sanctions is an escalation," the report's authors wrote and countered by pointing out that so far, frequent tightening of sanctions has not led to escalation.

Democrats have called on the White House to renew sanctions pressure on Russia, as well as target its allies, most notably China. Trump has threatened to punish those who help the Kremlin circumvent sanctions and buy Russian oil. So far, however, those threats have only targeted India, while Russia's main ally and trading partner, China, has avoided Trump's wrath.

Next Friday, when the ultimatum to Putin expires, Trump is threatening to take action if there is no ceasefire in Ukraine. Even if he resumes pressure, valuable time is lost, notes Peter Harrell, a former trade official in the Biden administration and now an expert at the Carnegie Endowment.

"Today's report highlights a sad reality: the six-month sanctions pause has seriously weakened pressure on Russia," he writes. - It will be good if Trump finally gets on board, but he will have to start from a problematic position."

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