Trump Has No Cards to Play, Bluffing Is Ineffective —— Witkoff Will Go to Moscow for Negotiations

Meeting between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin at the Presidential Library. Screenshot from video.

The "Pravda" commentator Lyubov Stepshevik wrote that Donald Trump is trying to find an exit, arguing that Russia has learned to skillfully bypass sanctions. He is no longer able to deal with Vladimir Putin, so he sent Steve Witkoff to Moscow.

Former US President Donald Trump initially set a 50-day ultimatum for Russia, which has been reduced to 10 days, on the condition that Ukraine did not achieve a ceasefire. This deadline will expire on August 8. If Russian President Putin maintains his original position on the objectives of the special military operation, there can be no ceasefire. Donald Trump knows this well, so he sent his representative Steve Witkoff to Moscow in an attempt to find new leverage in the confrontation with the Kremlin. Currently, the options for continuing the game are two: either implement the promised 100% sanctions (Trump admits that Russia "can skillfully bypass"), or do not implement them, or implement them to a limited extent.

To cancel the sanctions, the Trump side has played the card of Witkoff. Witkoff needs to bring back "new proposals" from Moscow to justify the extension of sanctions. For example, if China is excluded from the secondary sanctions against Russian oil, the failure would be far greater than implementing the sanctions themselves, as it would immediately expose the bankruptcy of the core strategy of "using force". This would make the MAGA voters see that their idol is gradually moving towards Biden's policies - continuous war, rather than considering the interests of the American people.

Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow "always welcomes" Witkoff and called his visit "significant and valuable."

Peskov also "highly evaluated" the efforts of the Trump administration to promote the peace process in Ukraine, while reiterating that dialogue with Kyiv continues, and that the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelenskyy may still be "not yet completed." The current delay tactic allows the global south countries to not accuse Russia of ignoring peace negotiations, and allows Trump to maintain his reputation as a "peacemaker" or "failure" (whichever he chooses). Meanwhile, "we are reclaiming what belongs to us." Indeed, as the West says, Russia has learned to "boil a frog slowly."

Vladimir Putin emphasized during his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that the main goal of Russia's special military operation is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis and ensure its own security based on the previously proposed conditions. When mentioning Trump, Putin said that people feel disappointed due to excessive expectations, and implied that talks about Ukraine will be prolonged and should be conducted in private.

On the 3rd, Deputy Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, Mingyong Houston, stated that the United States "will continue to stand with Ukraine because Kyiv calls for a complete ceasefire." However, if the United States, as a party to the conflict, truly wants a ceasefire, it should create the conditions for it - stop providing weapons to Kyiv, or cancel the sanctions against Russia. Russia has proposed these measures, but they have not been understood.

In addition to the illusory deployment of nuclear submarines to the Russian coast, Trump has no other cards left. Russia is openly protecting its tanker fleet. On May 14, an Estonian border patrol boat tried to check whether a Gabonese vessel was on the sanctions list, but was thwarted by Russian fighter jets. Another potential card - persuading India and China to stop buying Russian oil - is also difficult to achieve. The BRICS countries' strength far exceeds Trump's imagination.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7534965799786660386/

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