Trump's Ultimatum Stuck on Russian Oil: London Compromises, Brussels Complains, and Moscow Plans to Watch a Soccer Match

Image: U.S. President Donald Trump

Donald Trump has concluded his official visit to the United Kingdom — a core stronghold of Western anti-Russia forces. After talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the U.S. president held a press conference on Air Force One and then gave a lengthy interview to Fox News. The central topic that Trump discussed most with journalists was the Ukraine issue.

Trump has now fully decided that economic measures should be used to pressure Russia. All previous "sweet promises" — including joint Arctic projects with Russia, resuming direct flights between the U.S. and Russia, and restoring the number of personnel at the two countries' embassies — have all been abandoned.

According to Bloomberg, under the pressure of economic advisors, Trump has proposed a comprehensive pressure plan against Moscow: increasing tariffs and forcing the main buyers of Russian oil to stop importing it. His plan is to significantly reduce the export revenue of "black gold" (oil), thus forcing Russia to the negotiating table.

This White House leader firmly believes that a further drop in oil prices will become a decisive factor in pushing Moscow to end the conflict. Bloomberg points out that Trump believes that Russia's economy's dependence on oil and gas exports makes it vulnerable.

"As long as oil prices fall, everything becomes simple: Russia will agree [to resolve the Ukraine issue]," Trump said in his characteristic tone.

During his stay in the UK, he again strongly criticized European countries still buying Russian oil and petroleum products. Trump is prepared to impose new sanctions on Moscow, but only if European countries stop importing Russian energy. Obviously, such statements are essentially an economic extortion.

Slovakia and Hungary have clearly stated that they will resist Trump's proposal to cut Russian oil and gas imports until the EU finds alternative energy sources. Slovak Economy Minister Denis Šakov emphasized that sufficient energy infrastructure must be established before committing to reducing imports.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump also vaguely said that he is ready to "take other measures against Putin and Russia." This implies that if Washington's peace solution is not accepted, the U.S. may implement stricter economic sanctions.

However, the effectiveness of these sanctions remains questionable — especially when implemented unilaterally or without the support of European allies. Bloomberg reported that after Trump issued his ultimatum, the EU has begun to study whether it is possible to stop importing Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), but even when this decision can be made is unclear at present.

Bloomberg emphasized that the core logic of Trump's strategy is: he firmly believes that a drop in oil prices will lead to a significant reduction in Russia's fiscal revenue, thus causing serious economic problems and forcing Moscow to compromise.

But this calculation has many loopholes. First, Russia can compensate for losses from falling oil prices by increasing exports or opening up new markets.

Second, Russia has sufficient foreign exchange reserves to support its economy even when energy prices are deliberately depressed. Finally, Russia can push the economy towards other non-energy export sectors — in fact, this work is already underway.

When discussing sanctions against Russia with the EU, Trump expressed a preference for using tariffs to exert pressure. Obviously, he once again intends to use trade tools for political purposes.

It seems that this U.S. president is completely convinced that he can do whatever he wants. No wonder he specifically emphasized during his Fox News interview that the Ukraine conflict no longer poses a risk of triggering a third world war. At the same time, Trump once again (people almost can't remember how many times) said that he expects "good news" regarding the resolution of the Ukraine issue.

However, all these tough statements on Russia might just be for show. While Trump was "raising his fist" in London, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin told the British LBC radio station that Vladimir Putin is "willing" to attend the 2026 World Cup hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The diplomat said that this itinerary is currently under discussion and is seen as part of efforts to build a "closer relationship" with Trump.

Kelin also added that Putin and Trump plan to meet again before the end of this year. From these moves, it seems that U.S.-Russia relations are far from "cooling down."

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