This week has been full of action in Washington DC. The Trump administration made two major moves on March 3, that would shape the outcome of the war in Ukraine, and for good.
The first move: Well, it’s about stupid American sanctions on Russia. Trump is about to say goodbye to them.
As per news agency Reuters, the White House has instructed the State and Treasury departments to prepare proposals for easing certain sanctions on Russia.
It’s another move by Trump to improve economic and diplomatic ties with Russia and to work towards ending the war in Ukraine.
The report says that the proposed sanctions relief may include specific Russian entities and individuals, particularly some business leaders. The list will be discussed with Russian representatives in the coming days as part of ongoing negotiations to repair US-Russia ties. However, it remains unclear what concessions or actions Washington may demand in return.
This development follows a series of high-level diplomatic engagements between the US and Russia. On February 12, Trump and Russia’s Putin held a phone conversation, marking the beginning of discussions aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict. Since then, top US and Russian officials have met in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to further diplomatic talks.
At the Saudi meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio led discussions on economic cooperation, including potential joint ventures in the energy and tech sectors. Officials also explored the possibility of restoring embassy staffing levels to improve communication.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who led the Russian delegation, described the meeting in Riyadh as a positive first step toward rebuilding ties. He emphasized that both nations must “clean up the legacy” left by the Biden administration and called for the swift appointment of ambassadors in Washington and Moscow to restore full diplomatic cooperation.
Trump has maintained that any sanctions relief will be conditional upon concrete progress toward a peace agreement. So, when Trump makes a move to lift sanctions on Russia, it means Moscow has already taken some steps to scale back the war.
So, on Russia front at least, Trump seems content, satisfied. But the things are on that smooth on Ukraine’s side. Trump on Monday in a Truth Social post announced that Zelensky was not ready for peace, adding that he won’t put up with Zelensky’s stance on war for longer.
And it brings me to the second massive step that Trump took on March 3: Trump administration announced it was halting all military aid ton Ukraine. On one side, he rewarded Russia for showing willingness to end the war. On the other, he punished Zelenskyy for being stupid and shying away from peace negotiations.
The US has already splurged $70 billion in aid over Ukraine. Under Trump, no more supplies will be dispatched. According to initial reports, this decision would halt billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition, and missiles awaiting shipment to the war-torn nation.
Trump maintains that American support to Ukraine has emboldened Zelensky. And an emboldened Zelensky doesn’t want peace. So, he has put Kyiv in place by withdrawing the American support. Now, the Ukraine war is officially a problem of Ukraine and the EU only, US is out of this mess. If Zelensky is so brave, he can go and fight off Russian forces with equipment from EU nations, UK and may be from Canada. And if he can’t, he must say sorry to the US, to its people, to its president and just agree to a peace deal hammered out by Trump and Putin.
