FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo
When U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance angrily berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to the White House, countless Democrats and Never Trump conservatives attacked them as "useful idiots" and puppets of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Trump, in recent weeks, has been more critical of Putin than he was in the past and is saying that he is "disappointed" with the Russian president for continuing to attack Ukraine instead of agreeing to a peace deal.
In an op-ed published by The Hill on August 7, retired U.S. Army Col. Jonathan Sweet (who spent 30 years in Army intel) and national security/foreign policy journalist Mark Toth describe the following day — Friday, August 8 — as "Doomsday" and analyze the possibility of Trump delaying the "doomsday clock."
"Doomsday — or at least Hollywood's version of it — is approaching," Sweet and Toth explain. "Nuclear saber-rattling is increasingly taking center stage in the mounting standoff between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over ending Russia's war against Ukraine. Team Trump has finally seen through Putin's game.… Now, the White House's patience with Moscow is ending."
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Sweet and Toth continue, "Last week, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was shortening his previous 50-day ultimatum for Russia to 'enter into a peace deal (with Ukraine) or face sanctions' to 10 days — that is, by this Friday, August 8. The Kremlin was not fazed by Trump's latest demand…. Sanctions alone will not deter Putin."
The Russian president, Sweet and Toth argue, is "reasonably confident he can defeat Ukraine before any new secondary sanctions take effect." And it remains to be seen if Trump will extend the August 8 deadline.
"While Russian ground forces continue to slog their way forward on the battlefields in eastern and southern Ukraine," they observe, "Putin is throwing the kitchen sink at Ukrainian cities, terrorizing civilians with daily ballistic missile and drone strikes. Yet, as history has repeatedly demonstrated, strategic bombing is rarely decisive…. Only a huge setback on the battlefield will convince Putin he cannot win in Ukraine."
Sweet and Toth continue, "In the meantime, Trump's August 8 deadline should have been a hard one. By agreeing to meet with Putin as soon as next week, Trump is only giving Russia additional time to bomb Ukraine into submission. Trump must not cower to Russian nuclear threats. This is his war now, with 89 seconds to midnight on the Doomsday clock, and he must break the cycle."
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Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth's full op-ed for The Hill is available at this link.