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“Russia didn’t care”: Kremlin mocks Trump’s tariff threat amid silence on next moves in case of Moscow’s refusal to end war in Ukraine
US President Donald Trump, frustrated by fruitless “pleasant talks” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine, has issued an ultimatum to Moscow. The Kremlin responded by saying that Russia doesn’t care.
Trump expressed his disappointment with the Kremlin as Russia continues killing Ukrainian civilians on an unprecedented scale, with record numbers of drones. In June alone, Russia launched 5,000 drones and 330 missiles on Ukraine, which took the lives of 232 people. According to the UN, this marks the highest monthly casualty toll in three years. Therefore, he issued an ultimatum: if Kyiv and Moscow don’t reach a peace agreement within 50 days, the White House will impose 100% tariffs.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has openly mocked Trump’s statements, saying the Kremlin is indifferent to Washington’s new threats. According to him, Trump’s threats are theatrical in nature, and Europe had expected more.
“Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care,” Medvedev wrote on X.
Often called the Kremlin’s “mouthpiece” for his apocalyptic social media claims reflecting Moscow’s official position, Medvedev has frequently issued nuclear threats aimed at the West.
On 14 July, the American president also said that the new tariffs would target Kremlin allies, though he did not specify which countries he meant. Notably, China is the largest sponsor of Russia’s war in Ukraine, while North Korea supplies over half of Russia’s ammunition and military personnel in exchange for technology.
Trump also did not clarify what would happen if Russia refuses to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine. Meanwhile, the 50-day deadline coincides with the timeframe reportedly shared by Putin during a recent conversation, in which he stated that Moscow plans to escalate military operations in eastern Ukraine within the next 60 days. This effectively gives Putin 1,5 months to continue killing Ukrainian civilians.
Putin reportedly told Trump during their 3 July conversation that Russia intended to continue offensive operations until it secured the full administrative borders of the occupied Ukrainian oblasts.
Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including most of Luhansk Oblast, two-thirds of Donetsk Oblast, and parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. Moscow illegally declared the annexation of all four regions after sham referendums, despite not fully controlling any of them. At present, Russia has fully occupied only Crimea.
