Russian officials mock Trump's Ukraine plans, sanctions threats

Moscow [Russia], July 16: Senior Russian politicians have reacted with derision to US President Donald Trump's announcement of new arms deliveries to Ukraine and threatened sanctions.
"If this is all Trump had to say today about Ukraine, then expectations were set far too high," Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of Russia's Federation Council, wrote on Telegram late Monday. He said Trump's statement on the Ukraine conflict would have no effect on sentiment in Russia.
Kosachev claimed that within the 50-day ultimatum Trump mentioned, much could change on the battlefield as well as in the mood among the US and NATO leadership.
He added that the Europeans had walked into a trap set by Washington - now positioned to buy US-made weapons systems for Ukraine from Trump, "while only the US military-industrial complex will benefit."
Writing on the platform X, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev described Trump's remarks as a "theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin" and that "Russia didn't care."
Medvedev remains an influential figure as deputy chair of Russia's Security Council.
On Monday, after about six months of failed mediation efforts in the Ukraine war, Trump struck a harder tone toward Russia.
Trump said he was "disappointed" in President Vladimir Putin as he expected to have a deal months ago.
He announced new arms shipments to Ukraine, to be paid for by European NATO countries, and also threatened "severe" punitive tariffs against Russia's trading partners if no agreement to end the war is reached within 50 days.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing on Tuesday that Moscow was considering its next steps.
"We will certainly need time to analyse the rhetoric from Washington," he said, the TASS news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that NATO's arms deliveries to Ukraine showed that the alliance was interested in continuing the fighting.
Moscow had repeatedly called for an end to arms deliveries as a prerequisite for a ceasefire.
Source: Qatar Tribune