Ex-U.S. envoy: Trump blindfolded on Putin's war crimes in Ukraine
It became clear that U.S. President Donald Trump does not want to put pressure on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for his ongoing aggression against Ukraine, John Herbst, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and Director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, told Radio NV on Jun 18.
Trump does not want to acknowledge Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine and is not prepared to take action.
"Unfortunately, we know that Trump is now very soft, even gentle, towards Putin and the Kremlin. When he talks about the war, he keeps repeating that five thousand young men die every week, but does not want to talk about the killing of Ukrainian civilians and children," Herbst said, adding that this contradicts with his repeated threats to pressure the side unwilling to compromise.
"The whole world now sees that only one party refuses peace in Ukraine - the Kremlin. Even Trump said so, because he repeated several times that we are waiting for the Kremlin's response, waiting for two more weeks. He said this two or three times. The last time was about 16 or 17 days ago. And, of course, we have not seen a single step towards peace from the Kremlin during this time."
However, at the G7 summit in Canada, it became clear that Trump does not want to put pressure on the Kremlin.
"I'm not saying that Trump will never put pressure, but for now, he doesn't want to. Maybe he is afraid, I don't know. I cannot characterize exactly why he is not taking the necessary measures, but he is not. Of course, this is not a strength, it is a weakness."
U.S. President Donald Trump brushed off the EU and UK's call for more sanctions against Russia at the G7 summit in Canada.
Europeans should “do it first,” Trump said in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, adding that he wants to keep trying to push forward stalled peace negotiations before hitting Russia.
“When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a lot of money — a tremendous amount of money. It's not just, let's sign a document. You're talking about billions and billions of dollars. Sanctions are not that easy. It's not just a one-way street.”
The EU and UK were both pushing for more coordinated sanctions against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's regime at the gathering of G7 leaders, including lowering the price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $45.
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