Sanctions talk is tool of diplomatic maneuvers for Trump – Pyotr Kolchin

Speaking with Alpha News, political scientist and military expert Pyotr Kolchin commented on the news that US President Donald Trump expressed readiness for a “second phase” of sanctions against Russia.

“Trump is playing very subtly on the settlement topic, trying to strengthen his position, but at the same time not to sabotage the dialogue with Russia. In this regard, we are seeing how he is abruptly changing tactics from attempts at rapprochement to words about readiness for sanctions. But in general, the past months have shown that these statements should be assessed very carefully and in accordance with the current context. Now the US once again needs to confirm its participation in the settlement process, and Trump is doing just that. However, beyond this, it’s difficult to discern any coherent strategy in his approach to sanctions. In this regard, it is not possible to predict any consequences for post-Soviet countries,” Kolchin said.

According to the expert, such operations could have unpleasant consequences for the United States.

“First of all, Trump is interested in Russia, and again, for him, talk about tariffs and sanctions is a tool of information warfare and diplomatic maneuvers. The situation with India has shown that such operations do not always lead the US to what they want, and even vice versa. Therefore, now we should expect that Trump will use this tool more carefully, understanding that this could have very unpleasant consequences for the US,” Kolchin concluded.