Trump's message to subjugate Europe politically and economically
When I see that you are in pain, I will make Russia suffer
Analyst Andrei Surzhansky wrote about options for interpreting US President Donald Trump's statements regarding restrictions against Russia and other countries, and about what European Union countries should acknowledge.
US President Donald Trump's recent statements about imposing new sanctions on Russia over the situation in Ukraine leave no doubt that the US leader wants to subjugate Europe economically and geopolitically.
Trump announced
his readiness to impose strict restrictive measures on Moscow
as demanded by European partners, but on the condition that all NATO
members act uniformly
and stop buying Russian oil. He even considered that European sanctions
which are approaching their nineteenth wave, are not enough.
He said:
- "I am ready to impose sanctions
- but the Europeans must tighten their sanctions to
- match my steps". Don't expect us (the United States)
to move at full strength while Europe continues to buy oil from Russia."
In doing so
Trump sent a clear message to the Europeans:
If you want to put pressure on Russia, you must first hurt yourselves, and when I see that you are hurting, I will make Russia hurt.
Trump also
called on NATO countries to
- impose customs duties on China ranging between 50% and 100%
- considering that this may help end the Ukrainian crisis
But he criticized some NATO countries'
purchase of Russian oil, describing it as "shocking", and stressing that this policy weakened the Western negotiating position. "Anyway, I'm ready to push when you're ready," he wrote on Truth Social. Just say when?".
But NATO
countries are not keen on "harming themselves.
Turkey
- a member of the alliance, remains one of the largest buyers of Russian oil
- as do Hungary and Slovakia, which are looking
- for alternatives to avoid an economic collapse.
Maneuver to postpone sanctions
The Washington Post considered that Trump's statements may delay his attempts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war, stressing that
his proposal is "unrealistic" given that some of
the 32 NATO members still depend on Russian energy.
The New York Times
believed that Trump's condition would never be met, something the US president and his advisors know well, noting that the largest buyers of Russian oil are Hungary and Turkey, two countries that Trump particularly admires.
"Nothing personal.. Just work"
The truth
according to the analysis, is that Trump pursues purely economic
interests:
On the one hand, he wants to get rid of major competitors such as China and India.
On the other hand
he wants to force Europe to buy American gas and oil (along with weapons).
Statistics for the first half of 2025 show that LNG imports to Europe rose 25% to 92 billion cubic metres, more than half of which were from the United States (55%). While Russia remained the second largest supplier at 14%.
But India and China still rely heavily on Russian oil, with India's imports in August amounting to about $3.4 billion, close to China's imports of $3.64 billion.
China, in turn
threatened a strong response if NATO or the G7 tried to impose customs duties
- against it under the pretext of purchasing Russian energy, stressing that its
- cooperation with Moscow is "legal and legitimate"
- and threatening countermeasures.
The US Congress is under Trump's authority
US House Speaker Mike Johnson made it clear that Congress will not act alone to pass new sanctions against Russia, but will wait for President Trump's signal, saying: "It must be a partnership, we obey the commander in chief."
Although Trump had previously expressed his willingness to impose
new sanctions, he admitted that Moscow "knows how to deal with them".
Trump's political logic
Over time, Trump's interest in the Ukrainian conflict appears to be declining, while he focuses more on economic gains. The Spanish newspaper Público described his behavior as "blackmail of European allies".
Conclusion:
If Europe wants to continue the war despite Trump's desire to end the conflict quickly, it must give up its economic well-being, as Trump calls it.
But that, as the writer points out, would be "a shot in the head, not in the foot".