Steve Rosenberg
Russian Editor
Getty Images
If you were writing a Russian course in 2025, Lesson 1 would definitely include the Roller Coaster phrase, Amerikanskiye Gorki.
It literally means American hills.
How appropriate is it?
After all, with President Donald Trump on the road now and Vladimir Putin pressing several buttons, US-Russia relations have become one of the latest, with the highest and bass and twists.
You have no idea where you are now.
Analyzing geopolitical trends is difficult enough at their best. The 47th President of the United States is even more difficult to distance on the American Hills.
When Trump returned to the White House in January, the direction of his trip was clear. He tried to repair his ties with Russia.
There was Trump/Putin’s phone call, high-level US-Russia negotiations. At one point, Washington voted for Moscow for a UN resolution identifying Russia as a “invader” in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Whenever the Trump administration puts pressure on it, it was always in Kiev and never in the Kremlin.
However, about a week ago I started riding a roller coaster.
vyacheslav prokofyev/ pool/ afp
Trump made it known that he was angry at the Russian president’s comments
After Vladimir Putin proposed replacing President Volodimia Zelensky’s administration with “external governance” in Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations, President Trump informed Putin that he was “angry.”
“I was disappointed in a certain way. Some of the things I had to do with Zelensky in the last day or two commented on March 30th. “When.” [Putin] Zelensky believes he cannot trust him, so he is supposed to make a deal with him. Whether you like him or you don’t like him. ”
A day after playing golf with Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s Trump, he told the Guardian newspaper:
Trump threatened to impose a secondary tariff of up to 50% on Russian oil exports if it turns out that Russia is dragging its heels in the Ukrainian peace contract.
Deputy partisan groups of US Senators are on the way further.
They have written a bill that will impose a 500% secondary tariff on countries purchasing Russian oil, gas and other resources.
Until now, the Russian media has welcomed the thawing of relations between Moscow and Washington. Last month, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper published the headline “We and Russian officials have begun to speak the same language.”
Things have changed this week.
On Wednesday, Moskovsky Komsomolec newspaper accused the Trump administration of being “administrative madness… immature… immature.”
It criticized the administration’s “brand and arrogant” and “the desire to declare a “giant breakthrough” when the first steps are hardly taken.”
On the same day, Commonmorskaya Pravda declared: “In Ukraine, Donald’s mood changes as often as the wind.”
Perhaps a sign of a cold wind between Moscow and Washington?
Still, when Trump announced his drastic tariffs this week, Russia wasn’t on the list.
Instead, US authorities had organized sanctions immunity for Putin’s foreign investment mission, Kiril Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s leading official.
Dmitriev flew to Washington for a meeting with the Trump administration.
Perhaps there’s a sign that Russia and the US are continuing their business… are they getting along?
But another warning from Washington to Moscow on Friday. This time, we will be at a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels.
“President Trump will not fall into an endless trap of negotiations,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
“In weeks rather than months, we will soon know enough if Russia is serious about peace.”
AFP
Marco Rubio said Trump would not fall into a “endless negotiation trap about negotiations.”
“If not, we have to reevaluate where we stand and what we are moving forward about,” he continued.
This followed criticism of Russia by US NATO allies. British Foreign Secretary David Lamy said President Putin is “continuing to obfuscate and limp.”
“He can now accept the ceasefire and continues to attack Ukraine… We will see you, Vladimir Putin, we know what you’re doing.”
Before Friday, there were rumors that Trump and Putin were about to talk again on the phone. These were followed by more rumors. The White House had changed its mind.
The Kremlin said there were no plans for the conversation.
However, there are reports that American companies are planning to participate in this year’s St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
Understood. Stop the ride. You need to get off.
My conclusion from all this.
Trying to follow each twist can be whimsical and confusing to turn on the US and Russian roller coasters.
It may be better to observe from afar. It often helps you identify the big picture.
Here is: For months, Donald Trump’s team declined to criticize Putin and Russian Ukraine’s full-scale invasion.
Key White House officials, like special envoy Steve Witkoff, repeatedly embraced and repeated the Kremlin topic. Certainly, Washington says it is growing impatience for Russia and threatens even more severe sanctions against Moscow. But it imposes nothing. still.
it is?
Is the Trump administration ready to put pressure on Moscow to end the war? And does the Kremlin allow itself to put pressure on it to do so?
That’s an important question when Russia’s war with Ukraine continues.
