Latvia urges Trump not to delay new sanctions against Russia
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže (Photo: Getty Images)
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže has called on President Donald Trump not to wait and to impose secondary sanctions against Russia sooner than in 50 days, according to Politico.
“It should be earlier,” said the Latvian foreign minister in an interview on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum.
In her view, there’s no point in giving Russian President Vladimir Putin more time while Russian forces continue attacking Ukraine.
Braže noted that Russia is still capable of waging war, so the West must immediately increase pressure on Moscow to force Putin to come to the negotiating table.
One such step, she said, would be imposing sanctions without delay.
"The U.S. and its allies must make sure Russia understands that it’s not going to do better, but worse with every day. We’re seeing that already, the Russian economy is not doing well," she said.
In addition, the Latvian foreign minister noted that sanctions can have a real impact on the situation at the front.
According to her, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in ending the war, something intelligence reports have repeatedly confirmed.
Trump has reached a similar conclusion, despite earlier attempts to leave Russia room for possible negotiations.
“It was a question of time when it was clear that Putin is just fooling everyone and delaying, delaying tactics,” she said.
New US sanctions against Russia
Amid the large-scale shelling of Ukraine and the overall escalation of the war, US President Donald Trump has given Vladimir Putin 50 days to reach a peace agreement with Kyiv.
If Russia refuses, the American leader has threatened to impose secondary sanctions in the form of 100% tariffs on imports from Russia.
In addition, Trump did not rule out congressional approval of Senator Lindsey Graham’s bill, which would introduce 500% tariffs on countries that continue to sell energy and other resources to Russia.
Moreover, Trump stated that the sanctions could take effect even before the 50-day deadline.
In response, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev claimed that Russia is not concerned with Trump’s theatrical ultimatums.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed confidence that Russia will handle any new sanctions just as it managed the previous ones.
