Recently, Trump has revealed the possibility of a "soon" meeting with Putin, while at the same time openly directing his criticism toward China, threatening to impose new tariffs on China. What is going on here?

Trump

On August 7th, according to a report from Sputnik News, Trump said in the White House that it was highly likely he would meet with Putin "soon," and the White House later emphasized that this was requested by the Russian side.

Although the details of the meeting have not been determined, Trump evaluated his previous conversations with Putin as good and believed it was very likely to achieve the set negotiation goals.

Furthermore, he specifically praised this meeting on social media as "highly productive," implying that there were significant progress.

He also mentioned in passing that he had already communicated with European allies, saying that everyone's opinions were quite consistent, and they all felt that the war in Ukraine could not be dragged on any longer. In the next few days to weeks, efforts will be made to move towards ending the conflict.

Meanwhile, The New York Times followed up with news, saying that two sources familiar with the matter revealed that Trump plans to meet with Putin as early as next week, and possibly further push for a "trilateral meeting" between the presidents of the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine.

Putin meets with U.S. envoys

However, these are currently only the unilateral statements from the U.S. side. After the meeting between Putin and U.S. envoys, Russia only described the meeting as "very beneficial and constructive," discussing important issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the future development of strategic cooperation between Russia and the U.S.

It remains uncertain whether Trump and Putin can successfully meet, and it is unrealistic to expect one meeting to resolve the conflict.

Moreover, while Trump was busy releasing information about the meeting, he didn't stop his actions. He signed a new executive order.

In this order, he extended the national emergency status against Russia again, citing the same reason, Russia's actions in Ukraine, and even explicitly stated that Russia's policies posed a "special threat" to America's national security and foreign interests.

Furthermore, the United States turned its attention to India, stating that due to India's purchase of Russian oil, additional tariffs of 25% would be imposed on India.

Adding to the existing 25% "reciprocal tariffs," the total tariffs facing India suddenly soared to 50%, and the new policy will take effect within 21 days.

More importantly, on the same day, when interviewed, Trump clearly pointed his finger at China, saying that he might announce additional tariffs on Chinese goods, citing the reason that China purchases Russian oil.

Trump threatens to impose new tariffs on China

Actually, this is not the first time the U.S. has released such a dangerous signal. Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had issued similar warnings to China, hinting that if China continued to import oil from Russia, it might face new tariff pressures.

However, at that time, Trump had not yet personally spoken out, but this time, his statement clearly pushed this threat to the forefront, effectively taking a stance against China.

Nevertheless, Trump's tariff threat against China seems to be intentionally vague. For India, his actions were straightforward, with clear tax rates and effective dates.

But for China, he only used phrases like "this may happen," and even though he pointed out the reason for China purchasing Russian oil, he did not provide specific timelines or tax rates.

This probably indicates that after several months of dealing with China, the U.S. has a sense of what's possible, knowing that tariff threats are unlikely to truly affect China, and they don't want to openly clash with China.

After all, China's countermeasures are there, especially its irreplaceable advantage in key supply chains like rare earths. Continuing to confront each other directly, the U.S. itself must weigh the consequences.

On one hand, according to Trump's statement, he and Putin may meet as early as next week, which is likely an attempt to pressure Putin through the threat of tariffs on China, and he is also pushing forward with secondary sanctions against Russia;

On the other hand, it's likely an attempt to manipulate the leverage between the U.S. and China. Tariffs are a tactic he has used before, aiming to gain some trade benefits or force China to compromise on other issues, even if he knows it won't have much impact on China, he still wants to maintain a tough stance in words.

In short, although the U.S. and Russia may have a desire for contact, achieving substantial results is likely not easy. As for China, it will not easily be influenced by external pressure. The extent to which Trump's actions will stir up waves remains to be seen.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7535712549079073299/

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