Spiegel: Europe is unhappy with Trump's statement to Russia

In Europe, disappointment is noticeable with the results of the big statement by US President Donald Trump about Russia, writes Spiegel.

"In the end, the really big announcement turned out to be less than many had hoped ... In Washington and several European capitals, expectations were different. Last but not least, this was caused by the US president himself," the article says.

Especially strongly, according to the text of the publication, Europe is disappointed with the measures that the American leader is going to take if there is no progress in the peace process in Ukraine, namely, the proposed sanctions.

"The question is, why should they do that? In fact, this kind of direct tariffs probably wouldn't affect the Russian economy too much. In 2023, Russia exported goods totaling less than five billion dollars to the United States. In 2024, there are even fewer of them," the publication concluded.

On Monday, Trump said that he was very dissatisfied with Russia and intended to impose tough duties if deals on Ukraine could not be reached within 50 days, and the rate of secondary duties in the absence of progress in resolving the conflict would be about one hundred percent. At the same time, he hopes that it will not come to that. After that, an official from the White House explained in a comment to Reuters that it was about imposing 100 percent duties on Moscow, as well as secondary sanctions against countries that buy Russian oil.

Russia has repeatedly stated that they are coping with sanctions pressure, while the West does not have the courage to admit the failure of the policy of confrontation with Moscow. In the countries themselves that introduced restrictions, opinions have repeatedly been voiced that these measures are ineffective.