No Trump tariffs on Russia – a warning to Ukraine? You think?!

The only other countries not touched by Trump’s tariff spree are Belarus and North Korea - countries helping Russia with its invasion of Ukraine. A coincidence?

BY MICHAEL ANDERSEN

“I was very angry, pissed off” with Russia, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday. Yes, last Sunday, only four days ago. Trump was - in public - accusing the Russian President of dragging his feet on a ceasefire deal in Ukraine.

“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault …. I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.

Just to answer Trump’s query - everybody knows, of course, that it is Russia’s fault that there is no ceasefire - seeing as Ukraine already on March 11 agreed to an unconditional ceasefire. It really is that simple.

So, it was on Sunday that Trump warned Russia. But when he yesterday - on what Trump calls “Liberation Day”, “a tremendous occasion” - announced his reciprocal tariffs on just about every country on the globe - Russia was not there. Neither were Russia’s closest allies, Belarus and North Korea.

Belarus’ dictator Alekandr Lukashenka has been happy to allow his country to be a training and launching platform for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and North Korea has sent Putin 10,000 soldiers to help his failing army.

“Our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, plundered by other nations,” the U.S. President thundered in the Rose Garden. Apparently by everybody but Russia, Belarus and North Korea (and Cuba). More than 150 countries are on Trump’s list; The ‘basic tariff’ slapped on them is 10%, but the European Union countries are hit twice as hard, China is whacked with 34% and Vietnam 46%. Ukraine with the basic 10% tariff.

Russia, Belarus and North Korea - 0%.

Maybe it was because Putin, in the meantime, had finally shown himself willing to find a solution in Ukraine? Of course not.

Or maybe Putin has stopped killing and wounding innocent Ukrainians in their beds every night? Of course not.

Or maybe Lukashenka had asked the Russian army to leave Belarus, because he doesn’t want to be a part of the onslaught on Ukraine anymore? Of course not.

Or maybe Kim Jong Un had decided to withdraw his soldiers from the Russian invasion force? Of course not.

In fact, these last few weeks, Putin has, if anything, intensified his bombing of cities in Ukraine - especially Zaporizhie, Kharkiv (Ukraine’s second city) and President Zelensky’s hometown Kryvyi Rig have been hard hit; Many people have died. Clearly, Putin wants to send Zelensky and the Ukrainians a signal.

But it seems that the Russian dictator is not the only one sending the Ukrainian warning signals: Not only was Russia not on Trump’s tariff list, but the U.S. President also chose the very same day to receive the so-called ‘investment envoy’ of the Russian dictator - Kirill Dmitriev - in the White House.

Why? Well, officially, Dmitriev was let into the U.S. to conduct “ceasefire talks.” But off the record, U.S. officials say that the Trump administration considers business dealings with Moscow - even as Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine and refuse a ceasefire.

Because of his very close relations to the Russian dictator, and his support for the invasion of Ukraine, Dmitriev has been under international sanctions since 2022, so the US had to issue him a sanctions waiver, so he could visit.

(Vladimir Putin and Kirill Dmitriev. Photo: Getty Images)

Dmitriev is a family friend of Putin’s and is well-known as the man who launders the Russian dictator’s enormous personal wealth. Do I need to add the word ‘stolen’? He is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit the US on state business since Russia started the full-scale war in 2022.

It is clear, says a real Russia expert, Olga Lautman, that what is underway is something sinister: The Trump administration “is not negotiating peace,” Lautman writes, instead they are “brokering Ukraine’s surrender.”

I strongly suggest that you read Olga’s in-depth analysis of Dmitriev’s role, going back to Trump’s dirty dealings with Russia and Kirill Dmitriev’s central role in this before, during and after his election victory in 2016.

“Sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 ‘to prevent Putin’s regime from raising capital to fund its invasion of Ukraine,” Lautman writes, “Dmitriev should be a pariah. Instead, as Russia continues its genocidal assault on Ukraine, he’s being welcomed back into Washington - legitimized, empowered, and treated as a partner in Trump’s sham ‘negotiation plan.’….. It’s Trump’s red-carpeted rehabilitation tour for the Kremlin.”

The former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, yesterday commented about Dmitriev’s visit that “I hope that the American people get an explanation for this. I find it outrageous.”

And Ukraine and the Ukrainians, you ask? Oh, yeah, the Ukrainians… Last night, as every night, Russia bombed and killed and wounded many people in Ukraine. On top of the many more Ukrainian soldiers dying every day while defending their country.

Their country - which was invaded by Russia. No provocations, no ‘reasons’, purely and simply invaded because Putin wanted to quash its democracy and independence. That fact should be the basis for any kind of peace negotiations. In fact, if the Trump administration cared about a lasting peace in Ukraine, that fact would be the basis. If.

Instead, Trump is now openly trying to get back to business as usual with Russia.