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Russia isn’t backing off from attacking Ukraine and pummeled it with missiles and drones Thursday — simply weeks after President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, in an try to advance a peace deal.
The assault may very well be a sign Putin is using diplomacy to purchase himself extra time to advance his targets and proceed to assault Ukraine, all whereas avoiding secondary sanctions that the Trump administration has threatened to impose, in keeping with consultants.
The time to behave is now, in keeping with Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., chairman of the Home Armed Companies Committee’s subcommittee on cyber points.
“Putin is stringing President Trump alongside and the added time helps Russia to proceed the bombing marketing campaign in opposition to Ukrainian cities,” Bacon stated in a Friday assertion to Fox Information Digital. “The longer Trump refuses to impose secondary sanctions in opposition to Russia and ship high-end weapons to Ukraine, the extra he seems like a simp for Putin. It’s past time for Trump to have ethical readability and are available in sturdy to assist the democracy that’s being attacked by the Russian thug.”
RUSSIA LAUNCHES LARGEST ATTACK ON UKRAINE THIS MONTH FOLLOWING TRUMP’S MEETINGS WITH PUTIN, ZELENSKYY
The time to behave is now, in keeping with Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., chairman of the Home Armed Companies Committee’s subcommittee on cyber points. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos)
Bacon, a retired Air Pressure brigadier basic who will not be in search of reelection in 2026, stated that discussions with Putin have confirmed futile and have indicated Putin isn’t critical a few deal.
“We’ve seen zero outcomes from the talks so far as Putin being keen to compromise,” Bacon stated. “Though I feel in search of negotiations was worthwhile initially, it confirmed Putin doesn’t need peace.”
The White Home has maintained that Trump has made extra progress in two weeks to resolve the battle than his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, did in additional than three years, and pointed to Trump’s assembly with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inside days of one another.
“President Trump’s nationwide safety crew proceed to interact with Russian and Ukrainian officers towards a bilateral assembly to cease the killing and finish the conflict,” White Home spokesperson Anna Kelly stated in a Friday assertion to Fox Information Digital.
Trump introduced July 14 that he would log off on “extreme tariffs” in opposition to Russia if Moscow did not comply with a peace deal inside 50 days. He then dramatically lowered the deadline to solely 10–12 days — which ended Aug. 8. However reasonably than lay on further sanctions in opposition to Russia, Trump met with Putin per week later in Alaska and hailed the assembly an incredible success.
Nonetheless, progress stemming from the assembly seems restricted. Russia didn’t comply with a ceasefire, and whereas Trump initially stated a trilateral assembly with each Putin and Zelenskyy was within the works, Russia has proven disinterest in such a gathering.
RUSSIAN DRONE STRIKES KILL 7 IN KHARKIV DURING ZELENSKYY’S WHITE HOUSE MEETING WITH TRUMP
President Donald Trump, proper, greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, as he arrives at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richards Aug. 15, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos)
Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview with NBC Information Aug. 22 that no assembly had been scheduled and Putin would solely agree to at least one if sure phrases had been permitted beforehand. That’s not the case, he stated.
“Putin is able to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda is prepared for a summit, and this agenda will not be prepared in any respect,” Lavrov stated.
In the meantime, Russia launched a large assault using practically 600 drones and decoys in opposition to Kyiv Thursday, killing greater than 20 folks. In response, the U.N. Safety Council scheduled an emergency assembly for Friday, per the urging of Ukraine and a number of other different European allies.
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Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia throughout former President Barack Obama’s administration, stated in a submit on X that Putin has solely escalated assaults in opposition to Ukraine following the Alaska assembly, and stated Putin is “overtly mocking” Trump.
“I hope Mr. Trump and his crew perceive how Putin is spitting of their faces,” McFaul stated in a Thursday submit on X.
Moreover, Putin is onto the very fact he can bypass financial penalties, and gained’t critically negotiate a deal until he should, in keeping with Steven Pifer, who beforehand served because the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine throughout former President Invoice Clinton’s administration.
“I feel that Putin is, in reality, stringing the president alongside,” Pifer informed Fox Information Digital. “Putin nonetheless believes he can obtain his targets, vis a vis Ukraine, on the battlefield. And we’re not going to see a critical negotiating try by the Russians till Putin is satisfied he can’t win on the battlefield, and that persevering with to strive is just going to imply larger and larger value — firstly, much more useless Russian troopers.”
TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP TURNS SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE
President Donald Trump, proper, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, maintain a gathering at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Aug. 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. ( Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos)
“I simply do not see any actually critical steps the administration has taken to inflict any punishment on Putin,” Pifer stated. “I feel Putin’s figured that out, and till Putin is disabused of that notion, he’ll hold lacking deadlines.”
Traditionally, Russia’s calls for for a peace deal have included barring Ukraine from ever becoming a member of NATO, together with concessions on a number of the borders that beforehand had been Ukraine’s.
Peter Tough, a senior fellow and director of the Heart on Europe and Eurasia on the Hudson Institute suppose tank, stated that as a result of Putin is aware of the U.S. is keen to finish the conflict, Putin’s peace deal necessities are an try to show up the warmth on Ukraine.
Following Trump’s assembly with Putin and forward of his assembly days later with Zelenskyy, the U.S. president put the onus on Ukraine to finish the conflict – and stated that Ukraine may finish the conflict instantly if it agreed to cede Crimea to Russia, and abandon its bid for NATO membership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump take part in a gathering within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, Aug. 18, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
“Putin managed to sidestep U.S. sanctions in Alaska and is content material trudging away in Ukraine,” Tough informed Fox Information Digital Monday. “However he additionally acknowledges that the U.S. desires this conflict to come back to an finish, so he has put ahead a proposal meant to attraction to Washington within the hopes that the U.S. will put strain on Ukraine to simply accept its phrases. If he can divide the transatlantic alliance alongside the way in which, all the higher. On the very least, it helps him stave off further U.S. sanctions.”
John Hardie, Russia program deputy director on the Basis for Protection of Democracies, stated that Putin isn’t concerned about agreeing to a deal until his phrases are included in it. Within the meantime, Putin is using diplomacy to keep away from financial penalties, Hardie stated.
“I feel Putin does need a deal — however provided that it is on his phrases,” Hardie informed Fox Information Digital Monday. “Till that occurs, he is bent on persevering with the conflict, and Russia seeks to make use of diplomacy to forestall harder U.S. financial strain and redirect Trump’s ire from Moscow to Kyiv.”
