The Russia hawks’ initial reaction to President Donald Trump’s tougher stance on Vladimir Putin was positive.
That included a Monday joint statement from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal calling Trump’s threat of ramped-up economic penalties if Russia doesn’t cut a peace deal in next 50 days “a real executive hammer to drive the parties to the negotiating table.”
But a day later, a real sense of skepticism about Trump’s threats has crept in.
The Russians have basically shrugged it off and even treated it as a green light to take what they can in the next several weeks. Ukrainians and foreign leaders have expressed fears about what happens over the next 50 days. And even some Trump allies in Congress and elsewhere are wondering: Why the delay? Why not pass the sanctions legislation that more than 80 senators already support today?
Trump by Tuesday afternoon rejected criticisms of that timetable.
“Oh, I don’t think 50 days is very long, and it could be sooner than that,” he said. “I don’t think 50 days is very long. “
The president has often pushed off major decisions and announcements by giving himself a future deadline that he might or might not abide by (often “two weeks”). He did recently strike Iran right after a 60-day window he had given it to cut a nuclear deal that never arrived. But there seems to be a growing fear that this is just more kicking the can down the road or a pointless intermission.
Perhaps most striking Tuesday were the comments of a pair of Republican senators.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida praised Trump for his desire to bring Putin to the table. But he said the Russian leader is “not going to change.”
“I don’t know why he gave him that many days. From my standpoint, I think Trump’s being very generous,” Scott told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I would love there to be sanctions now. I’d love there to be tariffs now.”
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the 50-day timetable “worries” him.
Tillis said Putin could use the time to ramp up efforts to win the war quickly or try to gain power “after having murdered and potentially collected more ground as a basis for negotiation.”
As CNN’s Matthew Chance noted, officials in Moscow were breathing a sigh of relief about an announcement that could have been much worse for them – and may now view it as license to do what they can over the next 50 days.
While Russia has called Trump’s threats and the weapons he said he’s funneling to Ukraine “very serious,” Russian officials like Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev – a key Putin ally – also publicly downplayed the 50-day timeline.
“Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin,” Medvedev posted on X. “The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”
The markets in Russia also appear to have shrugged. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Moscow’s stock index jumped up 2.5 points on Tuesday, potentially because secondary sanctions appear more distant now – if they ever arrive.
Fears that Trump is giving Russia too long a leash were also prominent in Europe.
Officials including European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas praised the tougher stance but cast the timeframe as a very long one.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has often allied with Trump, praised him for “turning up the heat on Putin.”
“But why wait? Putin is butchering innocent people every day. Let’s get this thing over,” Johnson posted on X, adding: “Let’s sanction the Putin enablers now.”
The dilemma for Russia hawks is readily apparent. On the one hand, Trump is saying tougher things about Putin than he ever has before, and they want to give him credit for that – however belated they might think that pivot is.
But given Trump’s unpredictability and the fact that he’s treated Putin with kid gloves plenty before, they might also view this as a smokescreen and not tough enough. So now that Trump appears to have soured on his Russian counterpart, they might want to gently push him toward more urgent action.
What seems clear is that the concerns about the 50-day deadline have registered.
Trump grew testy Tuesday when pressed on the matter.
“You should’ve asked that same question to Biden,” Trump said, repeating one of his frequent refrains that it’s really his predecessor who is responsible for Putin’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor. “Why did he get us into this war? You should ask that question.”
Graham also seemed to respond to critics of the 50-day timeline, saying Trump very recently demonstrated how serious such deadlines can be – on Iran.
“If Putin and others are wondering what happens on day 51, I would suggest they call the Ayatollah,” Graham posted on X. “If I were a country buying cheap Russian oil, propping up Putin’s war machine, I would take President Trump at his word.”
The comparison isn’t perfect. Trump didn’t threaten to bomb Moscow. And the option to get tougher on Russia is a lot easier for Trump to make; it basically just involves telling Congress to pass a bill it appears poised to pass whenever called upon.
We’ll see if Trump feels compelled to get tougher, quicker.
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