MADRID - In a commentary, the Spanish daily Público argues that U.S. President Donald Trump is becoming less involved in the conflict in Ukraine by the day and is instead increasingly focused on economic gains and pressure on European allies.
According to the article, the Trump administration responded to the crisis caused by the drone flyover of Poland in a way that the paper describes as "blackmailing its own European allies". Público reports that "with each passing day, Trump shows less interest in the conflict in Ukraine and more and more focuses on extracting maximum economic benefits from those involved in the conflict, directly or indirectly, especially from his European 'friends' in NATO".
Público points out that the only success of Trump's strategy to resolve the Ukrainian conflict is, according to the author, to weaken Europe. He also points out that the drone incident and the NATO operation called 'Eastern Sentry' provide an opportunity for alliance members to deploy additional troops in areas close to the Russian border.
On 13 September, according to Reuters, Trump announced that he was ready to impose sanctions on Russia if Europe first tightened its measures against Moscow. The President stated that it is not acceptable for the United States to act against Russia at full force while European countries continue to buy Russian oil. He also said that all NATO countries should stop buying Russian oil and impose 50-100% tariffs on China. He said these steps would help end the Ukrainian conflict, after which the tariffs could be lifted.
The recent drone incident provides important context; according to government sources, some 19-23 drones have penetrated Polish airspace. This situation triggered the activation of NATO alert fighters and led to the alliance's decision to reinforce its eastern wing under Operation Eastern Sentry.
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