Donald Trump appears to be running out of patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After enticing Putin to join him in seeking peace in Ukraine by leaning on the Ukrainian government and President Volodymyr Zelensky to come to the negotiating table, refusing additional aid packages, and scolding the Ukrainian president for his obstinacy, Trump may be ready to change course.
None of that made much of an impression on Putin. In fact, the Russians have escalated their attacks on civilian targets and refused to sit down with Ukraine and begin negotiations.
Trump now appears ready to change course and withdraw the carrot to use the stick. He may be preparing another round of sanctions along with our European allies to try to convince Putin to stop fighting.
"What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened in Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He's playing with fire," Trump wrote on Tuesday.
We can only speculate about what Trump is referring to. Presumably, Putin knows exactly what those "really bad" things are.
Reuters is reporting on a list of Russian "demands" for peace, including a halt to NATO's eastward expansion. Putin wants a "written" pledge by NATO powers not to invite Ukraine to join the alliance.
Allowing Ukraine's entry into NATO would not only invite World War III to begin but would also sully the relationships with non-corrupt Western nations. According to the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine was ranked 105 out of 180 countries. The most corrupt NATO country is currently Hungary, with a ranking of 42.
Naturally, Russia wants the lifting of all sanctions and a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality. The demands are an invitation for another war when Russia rearms and rebuilds. The president is not likely to accept that.
“President Trump supported that if Russia does not stop, there will be sanctions,” Zelensky told journalists in a briefing Tuesday, referring to their April meeting. “Our conversation was positive from the point of view that I perceive our conversation as a confirmation of the U.S. policy of imposing strong sanctions against Russia if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.”
Trump addressed the potential of new sanctions on Sunday, saying that he is “absolutely” considering them. “He’s killing a lot of people,” Trump said of Putin. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him?”
Trump is also tiring of the peace negotiations and is considering abandoning them all together if a final push doesn’t work, people familiar with his thinking said, a remarkable change for a leader who campaigned on his ability to end the conflict on his first day in office. It is unclear what would happen if the U.S. retreats from the peace process and whether Trump would continue to provide military support to Ukraine.
“President Trump has been clear he wants to see a negotiated peace deal,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. “President Trump has also smartly kept all options on the table.”
Trump came into office convinced that Vladimir Putin was tired of the war and would leap at the chance for a ceasefire. His losses have exceeded 100,000 dead by almost all counts, 1,000,000 killed, wounded, and missing according to Ukraine.
What Trump and most leaders didn't reckon with was how far Putin would go to restore the old Soviet Union. No matter the casualty count reported in the West and Ukraine, Putin knows that before he absorbs Ukraine militarily, he will destroy the Russian army. This means he has to stop soon.
Perhaps he was hoping for Trump to force Ukraine to make peace on Russia's terms. That was never going to happen, and now Putin faces the prospect of another round of sanctions.
There is already a bipartisan coalition in the Senate that's ready to impose sanctions. Sen. Chuck Grassley posted to X:
I believe president trump was sincere when he thought his friendship w Putin wld end the war. Now that being the case ITS TIME FOR SANCTIONS STRONG ENUF SO PUTIN KNOWS “game over”
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 27, 2025
Russia is already "over-sanctioned." The most powerful sanction left would be to make it far more difficult for Russia to conduct international business.
That move is bound to hurt the Europeans almost as much as it does Russia. Regardless, it's the biggest move Trump has left on the chessboard.
