جمود في العلاقات وتهديدات متبادلة بين واشنطن وموسكو

U.S. President Donald Trump announced an anticipated meeting between the United States and Russia, telling reporters yesterday (Tuesday): “We have a meeting with Russia... We will see what happens.”

The meeting is scheduled to take place just a few days before the expiration of the ten-day deadline that Trump set for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to reach a ceasefire in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Trump did not provide further details, including who would attend the meeting, but he appeared to be referring to the meetings of his special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, which he arrived in today (Wednesday).

Trump revealed that he intends to impose sanctions if the deadline, which ends on Friday, passes without a resolution. The sanctions aim to target countries that buy Russian oil and gas, in order to restrict Moscow's ability to finance its war in neighboring Ukraine.

Trump announced that he would hold off on imposing a new wave of U.S. sanctions on Russia until after the visit.

Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's plane landed at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow today (Wednesday), where he was greeted by the Russian president's special representative Kirill Dmitriev.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov preempted Witkoff's visit, stating in remarks to the official TASS news agency: “Improving relations between Russia and the United States will take time.”

He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart have not met for a long time, emphasizing that there is, of course, stagnation in this process. He said it takes time to return bilateral relations to their normal course.

It is worth noting that this is the first time in modern Russian history that more than six months have passed since the inauguration of a new U.S. president without a summit with the Russian president, according to TASS.

The agency attributed this to the fact that relations between the two countries have been marked by escalating tensions in recent weeks, as Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines to appropriate areas in response to statements from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The U.S. president issued an ultimatum to Putin, demanding a ceasefire in the war that Russia began with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and a formal peace agreement by August 8 of this year.

He threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia and 100% tariffs on countries that buy its oil, the largest of which are China and India, unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire.