US President Donald Trump will shake hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin before a joint press conference following a meeting at the joint base of Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025.
Gavriil Grigorov | Via Reuters
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that if Moscow does not come to the table and agree to a peace talks or a ceasefire with Ukraine, he will punish Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has shown no indication that it is not intended to continue increasing attacks on Ukraine as it aims to consolidate its profits on the battlefield.
Still, Trump refrains from releasing a massive bazooka of extra sanctions and economic punishments that could hurt already weakened Russia.
The reason for the halt is strategic and extends beyond Russia, analysts warn that the longer Trump will damage him and the US position the more he is.
“The Russian budget is actually under a lot of pressure… so if there are more important sanctions targeting Russian oil trade from the US – they’re talking, but not being put into effect, but it wasn’t under much more pressure.
There were two important factors behind Trump’s apocalypse, Weafer said:
“Trump believes he can bring both sides to the table, mediate a peace deal, and trust that he has directed the conflict towards peace, and he keeps in mind that the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize will come in early October.
“The second reason… If Russia is defeated, if Russia is completely isolated by the West, then when it comes to the US-European relationship, we have no choice but to go even further with China.
Bringing Russia and Beijing closer means the latter had “nearly unlimited” access to energy resources, industrial materials and Arctic Circle, analysts said this could effectively block the US from the Russian-compatible portion of the Arctic Circle.
China will also allow access to Russian military technology, such as stealth submarines, and further opportunities for space exploration.
Washington officials were worried about that, Wiefer noted, “They don’t want Russia to be essentially a more formal subsidiary of China. They want it to be in the middle due to their involvement in the West. That’s part of the reason they’re stepping carefully for now.”
CNBC has contacted the White House to comment further on its strategy against Moscow and is waiting for a response.
Meanwhile, Ukraine saw Trump voluntarily impose a deadline for action against the Russian Pass, leaving Kiev with Crestfall, perceived as missing the opportunity to put pressure on Putin on a ceasefire.
“Ukrainians wanted Trump to accept Putin’s August 8th to accept the ceasefire,” said John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and head of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasian Centre, in an August analysis.
However, they were disappointed that Trump would cross the August 8 deadline and end the fight without any consequences. “Instead, Trump focused on his summitry with Putin, which still doesn’t bring about Russia’s flexibility,” Herbst wrote.
“Now they’re brushing their teeth and, together with many of their European partners, are waiting for White House officials to realize that Russia is playing them.
China – Russia and India will deepen bonds
Leaders in Beijing and Moscow were seen displaying bonomy at the Shanghai Cooperative Organization Summit on Monday. The SCO is attended by 20 foreign leaders, including President Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine, Trump’s tariffs and continued oil trade, major economies in China, Russia and India have deepened economic and political ties, whilst their ties with the West are worn out.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged fellow leaders attending the summit to strengthen their cooperation and vetoing what he called a “Cold War mentality.”
Meanwhile, Putin told SCO that, as his meeting with Trump in August described more than three years of war, paved the way for a way to solve Ukraine’s “crisis.” However, he thanked Russia’s Asian allies for their support during the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Front L) spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (c) and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held on September 1, 2025.
Alexander Kazakov | AFP | Getty Images
“We value the efforts and propositions of China, India and our other strategic partners to resolve the crisis in Ukraine. The mutual understanding reached at the recent Russian US Summit in Alaska is heading in the same direction.
Summits like SCO were creating new political and socioeconomic ecosystems to replace the “outdated” Euro-Atlantic-centric power model, Putin said.
This new system means “a truly balanced system in which one country’s group is at the expense of another group.”
