As previously reported by AFN, Trump is giving the Russian leader a 50-day deadline to come to the peace table and end the war. And Trump announced that the U.S. will resume sending Patriot Missile systems to Ukraine, by selling them first to NATO allies, who would then dispatch them to Ukraine.
Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker chairs the Armed Services Committee. He expresses cautious optimism.
“The announcement on Monday was very, very good. We had gotten word of it over the weekend. We'll see how it plays out, but I think most people in Congress are very pleased at this development. President Trump has finally put his foot down on Mr. Putin."
But Wicker wants any agreement involving Putin to be permanent.
"This needs to be an end to the fighting where President Putin acknowledges that it will not begin again. It's not just a quick little pause or maybe a year-long pause, which is the sort of thing that Putin has done in the past. It needs to be a permanent ceasefire that allows an independent Ukraine to continue to exist as a democratic ally of the West."
Bob Maginnis, a national security expert, told AFN that Trump’s tariff strategy is the right call for the situation.
“Trump's threat to impose 100 percent tariffs on third-party buyers of Russian energy is a very strong and appropriate move," Maginnis said. " It shows he understands Putin's weakness and that China and India must pull away from financing Russia's ongoing war."
