Trump's big Russia announcement fails to lift spirits in a fatigued Ukraine

The teasing on July 11 of U.S. President Donald Trump's "big announcement" on Russia had raised hopes in Ukraine over the weekend that the White House was finally going to take concrete action to pressure Moscow to end its full-scale invasion.

Those hopes would not be met.

On July 14, Trump instead said the U.S. will impose "severe tariffs" on Russia unless it agrees to a deal on ending the war in Ukraine within 50 days. It comes after previous deadlines to end the war of 24 hours, two weeks, and 100 days have come and gone.

"As a Ukrainian living in Kyiv, I can say that after yesterday's statements by Trump, I feel nothing but fatigue and skepticism," film director Iryna Tsilyk told the Kyiv Independent.

"President Trump has already demonstrated to the whole world many times the inconsistency of his words and actions."

This sentiment was echoed on the streets of Kyiv — 74-year-old retiree Oleksii, who requested his surname be withheld, said there was little of note in the latest announcement as Trump has "repeated this sort of thing 20 times already."

"As one of my colleagues used to say, making a promise isn’t the same as tying the knot."

The secondary tariffs presented by Trump appear to fall short of a bipartisan U.S. Senate bill, which seeks to impose a 500% tariff on imports from countries that continue purchasing Russian oil and raw materials.

But despite the disappointment that the U.S. does not appear to be moving ahead with crushing sanctions in the near future, it's undeniable that recent weeks have seen a significant shift in tone from Trump.

"I'm disappointed in President (Vladimir) Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to be getting there," he said when announcing the 50-day deadline.

"I speak to Putin a lot about getting this done, and then missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city. And it's strange... I go home and tell the First Lady, "I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation." She says, 'Oh, really? Another city was just hit'," he added.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, lawmaker for the Ukrainian opposition Holos party, told the Kyiv Independent that the "change in Trump's rhetoric is a positive signal," though he cautioned against taking it for granted that it would remain this way.

"It is important to monitor further dynamics because in Trump's statements, emotions are most often important, not specifics," he said.

This sentiment was echoed by Volodymyr Ariev, a lawmaker from the opposition European Solidarity party, who said the 50-day deadline "could be perceived as a last warning to Putin if Trump was consistent in his actions."

"But we just don’t know whether he will maintain his position at the end of the deadline," he added.

Regardless, 50 days is a long time in a country that has seen a dramatic and devastating escalation in Russian aerial attacks in recent weeks, not to mention a Kremlin openly stating it intends to capture as much Ukrainian territory as it can in its ongoing summer offensive.

A popular meme doing the rounds on social media in Ukraine suggests that the only thing saving the country from yet another mass missile and drone attack is the fact U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg is currently in Kyiv.

Oleksandr Merezhko, a Ukrainian lawmaker and chair of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow would likely see Trump's announcement as a green light rather than an ultimatum.

"This deadline might be taken by Putin as an opportunity to intensify the war effort during summer, especially when Russia is trying to conduct offensive operations," he said.

On the front lines in Ukraine, the latest development was met with skepticism.

"I don't understand why we need to give 50 days — many people will die during this time, and this is just so that Putin can once again piss off Trump," Petro, fighting with Ukraine's 38th Marine Brigade in Pokrovsk, told the Kyiv Independent.

"During the time it took Trump to realize that Putin was lying to him, hundreds of Ukrainians were killed, and thousands lost their homes and now have to start their lives from scratch."

Trump's announcement did contain some encouraging news for Ukraine — after an unnerving pause in military aid earlier this month, Trump said some Patriot air defense systems and missiles may arrive in Ukraine "within days."

Trump and NATO chief Mark Rutte also unveiled a scheme under which NATO will purchase advanced arms from the U.S., including air defense systems, and deliver some of them to Ukraine.

"We're gonna make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to NATO. NATO may choose to have a certain (number) of them sent to other countries... where the country will release something, and it will mostly be in the form of a replacement," Trump said.

The U.S. will sell around $10 billion in weapons to NATO allies in the first wave of arms designed to support Ukraine, Axios reported on July 14, citing an undisclosed source. The shipment will reportedly include missiles, air defense weaponry, and artillery shells.

But even this isn't enough to cancel out the fatigue and scepticism felt in Ukraine after nearly six months of a U.S. administration that still has yet to take any concrete action to pressure Russia to end its full-scale invasion.

"His statements are empty words not backed up by actions," Dmytro, an infantryman in the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine who asked only to be referred to by his first name, told the Kyiv Independent.

"Whether he likes it or not, he is playing into Putin's hands. We have not seen any decisive, drastic actions from the Trump administration during his term, only against Ukraine."

Hi, this is Chris. Thank you for reading this article. The Kyiv Independent doesn't have a wealthy owner or a paywall. Instead, we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism funded.  If you liked this article, consider joining our community today.

Trump’s ‘severe tariffs’ on Russia probably won’t work, experts say

President Donald Trump on July 14 announced the U.S. would impose “severe tariffs” on Russia unless Moscow agrees to a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days, but experts who spoke to the Kyiv Independent say the plan is deeply flawed. “I’m afraid this talk about tariffs will remain just talk,” Andrei Movchan, a Russian-born economist and founder of Movchan’s Group, told the Kyiv Independent. “Like the oil price cap or the fight against the shadow fleet — something may be introduced on

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy