The president of the United States wrote to the president of Russia. However, the post on Truth Social is not specifically addressed to anyone. It’s a shout out to space and the public. But since it is the first time a threat to Putin has been publicly voiced there, it is, of course, an appeal to him:
I’m not going to harm Russia. I love the Russian people and I have always had a very good relationship with President Putin – and this despite the “Russia, Russia, Russia” falsehood imposed by the radical left. We must never forget that Russia helped us win World War II, losing nearly 60,000,000 lives in the process. Having said that, I’m going to do Russia, whose economy is collapsing, and President Putin a very big favor. Agree now and STOP this ridiculous war! OR IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. If we don’t make a “deal” soon, I will have no choice but to impose high taxes, duties and sanctions on everything Russia sells to the U.S. and to the various other countries involved [in the conflict]. Let’s end this war, which would never have started if I were President! We can do it the easy way or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “END THE WAR”. NO MORE LIVES MUST BE LOST!!!
Public threats are not at all what will move Putin. He is fighting what he considers an existential conflict (and spending a third of his budget on it) as Commander-in-Chief. He has many thousands of citizens dying on the frontlines every month.
And then his opponent neglects standard means of diplomacy for the sake of a desire to show off. The posture of a stern teacher instructing a toddler is sure to dramatically worsen the prospects for negotiation. And it doesn’t matter that “Trump is always like this with everyone.”
He may have made an impression on his voters. In December, the US president wrote that the Russian Armed Forces had lost 600,000 killed, in January – already a million. After the figure of 60 million Russians killed in the Patriotic War, should we expect 100 million?
We have a famous character who once reported, “I have an unusual lightness of mind.” Trump is not Chlestakov, he’s a billionaire. But it’s very similar. Anyway, this is a very strange beginning.
