Threat Of Trump Sanctions Russia Harvests Blasphemy, North Sulawesi Is Angry

PHOTO DOCUMENTATION/US President Donald Trump And Russian President Vladimir Putin/Obviously Mikhail Metzel/TAPS

JAKARTA - "Unrespectful", "insult", and "lack of information". US President Donald Trump's threat aimed at pressuring Moscow to end its war in Ukraine was responded negatively to by politicians and nationalists in Russia.

Trump's statement is considered a bad sign for reaching a peace agreement related to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump has previously said he will impose new sanctions, taxes, and tariffs on Russia, whose economy is said to be failing, and against Moscow allies, unless President Vladimir Putin makes a deal with him soon to end the conflict with Ukraine.

In a bid to balance his threats with praise, Trump spoke of the need to never forget Russia had helped the United States win the Second World War and mistakenly stated the Soviet Union had lost 60 million people in the war.

Putin and Trump have not spoken by telephone since their inauguration. Meanwhile, the Kremlin played down Trump's threat, saying it had seen nothing new about it.

"We remain ready for dialogue, President Putin has repeatedly discussed this for equal dialogue, for mutual respect dialogue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

But Peskov took Trump's statement into account of the Second World War, saying it was the Soviet Union that contributed the most to the victory over Nazi Germany.

Peskov also pointed out Trump's mistake regarding the number of war victims.

While others speak more clearly, saying what they see as Trump's strong stance on Russia makes it less likely to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine.

Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of Russia's upper house of parliament, noted Trump has yet to file any charges against Ukraine in the same post on Truth Social.

"This confirms that its level of understanding of the causes, current circumstances and prospects for resolving the Ukraine crisis are roughly at the same level as its understanding of the direction and outcome of the Second World War," Kosachyov said.

The influential war bloggers, read by millions of Russians and obtained permission from the authorities, expressed their anger.

One of them, Voenkor Kotonok, called Trump's statement "insult, arrogant, and selfish".

Another war correspondent, Alexander Kots, speculates a ceasefire in the Middle East has given Trump a sense of misunderstanding.

"Russia is not the Gaza Strip. And starting a dialogue with ultimatums is not an act that is far ahead of a leader who claims to be the bearer of peace. Moscow will never agree to any agreement that is emphasized by extortion and threats," Kots wrote.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said Trump's actions so far indicated he would not be able to bring peace to Ukraine.

Meanwhile Vladimir Solovyov, host of state media talks, said Trump's threats proved he was an enemy.

"Is that a way to talk to the great Russia?" said Solovyov, who was angry with his listeners.

Abbas Gallyamov, former author of Putin's speech, now designated as a "foreign agent" by Russia, was among those who said Trump's strong approach could backfire.

Trump could have taken the time (regarding Ukraine), but he decided not to procrastinate and slowly started to put pressure (on Russia)," Gallyamov wrote on his blog.

"There is a risk that Putin will retaliate and make a deadlock," he said.