Russia has rejected Trump’s “ultimatum” for Moscow to sign a ceasefire deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days on Tuesday as “unacceptable,” calling for continued negotiations and insisting that the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin would continue until its goals are achieved.
In response to President Trump’s threat to impose 100% secondary tariffs on countries that do business with Russia if Putin’s government does not agree to a deal to end the war in that timeframe, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Tuesday that “any attempts to make demands, especially ultimatums, are unacceptable to us,” according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
I don’t think that Putin is “delusional,” he is just trying to do what Russia has been trying to do for centuries - destroy Ukrainian culture, identity, independence, in short, assimilate Ukrainians. And withdrawing troops from Ukraine will not be such an easy decision for Putin and Russia, after several years of full-scale war, that is.