Donald Trump raised his tone on Monday against Vladimir Putin on the occasion of a meeting in Scotland with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, giving “10 or 12 days” to his Russian counterpart to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine, under penalty of severe sanctions.
• Read also: The United States will set up “food centers” in Gaza, Trump announces
• Read also: Donald Trump imposes his “golf diplomacy” in Scotland
The American president, who so far had not extended much to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, said to see signs of a “real famine”, and promised more aid, in particular with the opening of “food distribution centers.”
In Vladimir Putin, he set “a new deadline of around 10 or 12 days from today”. “There is no reason to wait. We see no progress, ”deplored the Republican, who had given a period of 50 days to his Russian counterpart on July 14.
He said in particular to consider “secondary” sanctions, that is to say touching countries that buy Russian products, for example hydrocarbons, in order to dry up Moscow income.
The billionaire, speaking on the steps of a luxurious golf complex that his family has in Turnberry in Scotland, said he was “very disappointed” by his Russian counterpart.
kyiv immediately praised his message of “firmness”.
Regarding Gaza, Donald Trump judged on Monday that a ceasefire was “possible” and recognized that “many people were dying of hunger”.
Evoking images of children from Gaza seen on television, he said: “It’s a real famine”, adding: “It is not possible to simulate that.”
“We are going to set up food centers where people can enter freely – without limits. We will not have fences, “he told journalists in Scotland, where he spent a half-diplomatic, half-private stay.
Keir Starmer told him about a humanitarian “total disaster” in Gaza and added: “We must arrive at this cease-fire”.
Press conference
The American president then embarked on an endless press conference, more than an hour.
He sang the praises of the wife of the British Prime Minister, praised the renovation of the Turnberry golf course, which he had bought in 2014, resumed his recurrent diatribe against wind turbines qualified as “monstrosities”, and against immigration ….
All alongside a Keir Starmer essentially silent, which however took the floor from time to time, for example to defend the choice in the United Kingdom of a “mix” between renewable energies and conventional sources.
In front of the press at least, the two leaders did not talk much about trade, which was to be an essential element of their conversation.
London already benefits from a more favorable fate than other international partners, with customs duties generally limited to the floor of 10%.
The European Union resigned itself on Sunday at a rate of 15%, after a visit by the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry.
But the British government is still negotiating sustainable exemptions for steel and aluminum.
They are currently taxed at 25%, halfway under the rate of 50% applied to the rest of the world, but the arrangement announced in May provided that they were brought back to zero.
Despite the compliments he flooded Keir Starmer, Donald Trump has so far not given up.