CNN
–
Is there a direct link between what US President Donald Trump is saying and what Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing?
Certainly, the harsh words and bitter violence of recent days in Ukraine suggest that there is probably an answer.
First, President Trump avoided frustration at the lack of commitment from his Russian counterparts to engage in a serious peace process.
“If we want to know the truth, we get a lot of bullshit that was thrown into us by Putin,” Trump blew the intensity at his cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “He’s always been very nice, but it turned out to be pointless,” he complained.
The next day, Russia launched its biggest, as if furious at the statement. The drone attack on Ukraine will send 728 drones and 13 missiles, attacking cities across the country with multiple waves.
It was to “communicate the attack,” observed Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelensky.
There are obvious signs of a pattern.
Last week, Russia unleashed yet another massive barrage of Ukraine after Trump publicly lamented that he had “not progressed” in a ceasefire after making a long phone call with the Kremlin leader. Described by Ukrainian officials as one of the worst attacks in the conflict, raining down 539 drones and 11 missiles.
Every time President Trump expresses anger, frustration, or even negativity about his Kremlin counterpart, he may be allowed to think that an immediate response from Russia is to intensify the ruthless punishment it contests with his Ukrainian neighbor.
But it’s not that easy.
The problem is that Russia will carry out a catastrophic strike against Ukraine during a period of relatively silent on the conflict that the US president has vowed to end in one day.
For example, on June 29th, Moscow launched 477 drones and 60 missiles against Ukraine. At the time it was Russia’s biggest air attack. However, President Trump had made little significant public comments about Russia in the last few days.
Additionally, President Trump told fellow leaders of industrialized democracy that he essentially regretted Putin’s absence at the June summit and criticised his previous leader for kicking Russia out of the then G8. Moscow ratchets up an attack on Kiev, killing at least 28 people in a drone and missile strike in the Ukrainian capital a few days later.
Even positive remarks from the US president may reasonably hope that it will ease the rage of Russia, which is boiling down about how it is being spoken in the White House, but it does not appear to act as a brake on the Kremlin’s excess.
The Kremlin proposes that President Trump’s recent critical explosion had a major impact.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added, “Trump generally tends to use rather strict style and expression,” and told Dmitry Peskov, “We’re very calm about it.”
The reality is that Russian military tactics will be much more likely to be driven by the relentless military purpose of seizing as many territory as possible before the crushing conflict in Ukraine becomes its fourth year, and will eventually halt.
Similarly, the horrifying increase in Russian drone use in recent weeks is likely to reflect more of a missile shortage and increased drone production in Russia than an angry Putin retort over one of Trump’s off-hand comments.
