For Putin, ‘Biden will seem like Santa compared to angry Trump’

President Putin’s efforts to spin out talks with the US over the war in Ukraine while his forces make progress on the battlefield could be running into trouble.

Donald Trump has expressed annoyance over Vladimir Putin’s stalling tactics over a ceasefire in Ukraine. Picture: AFP

President Putin’s efforts to spin out talks with the US over the war in Ukraine while his forces make progress on the battlefield could be running into trouble.

After admitting that he was “pissed off” with the Kremlin’s intransigence, President Trump threatened to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil if he decided that Moscow was deliberately dragging its feet on a full ceasefire.

The remarks were his strongest against Moscow since he returned to the White House in January.

The move could see tariffs of up to 50 per cent imposed on imports to the US from countries that buy Russian oil. This could have a huge impact on China and India, the biggest purchasers since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia exports about $500m worth of crude oil every day, a sum that more than covers its planned expenditure – $400m a day – on military spending this year.

However, a slump in revenues would hurt Putin’s ability to keep his war machine running smoothly.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, declined to comment in detail on Trump’s remarks, saying that Putin “remains open” to another phone call with his US counterpart. The two presidents agreed in February to work “very closely” to bring an end to the war.

Trump’s threat came after Putin suggested placing Ukraine under the temporary governance of the United Nations until fresh elections could be held. The proposal was widely seen as another ploy to buy time for the Kremlin’s army to advance.

Russian oil-exporting facilities at the port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea. Picture: Reuters

Although Trump said only that there was a “psychological deadline” for Putin to come to the negotiating table, some in Russia have begun to express doubts that the president’s go-slow tactics are feasible in the long term.

“Donald Trump is losing patience,” read a headline on the website of the Moscow-based Business FM radio station. “[Our] punt on sluggish, lengthy negotiations on numerous technical details of partial agreements may not work,” wrote Georgy Bovt, a member of the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy think tank, which advises the Kremlin.

He suggested that Russia may need to make a “symbolic” concession to placate Trump.

Others were more forthright on the dangers for Moscow: “If we miss this window of opportunity, Trump won’t just lose interest in the [ceasefire] deal – he could explode in anger. And then [President] Biden will seem like a kind Santa Claus compared to an enraged Trump,” a source close to the Kremlin told The Moscow Times.

While it was not clear if Trump would target all Russian oil, some analysts said that the Kremlin was unlikely to call off its invasion over economic pressure.

Even before the war, two thirds of Russians said they had no savings at all and more than 20 million people – about 15 per cent of the population – were scraping by on monthly incomes of less than 13,000 roubles ($250).

The Times