When US President Donald Trump said last week he would make a "major statement" about Russia, speculation spread that he could use about $4 billion in unused military aid for Ukraine or impose sanctions on Moscow and its major trading partners.
But on July 14, Trump made another announcement: he said that European NATO member countries would send Ukraine the weapons they already have at their disposal - such as Patriot missile systems - and then replace them by purchasing new weapons from the United States.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was alongside Trump at the White House during the announcement, said the value of these weapons would run into billions of dollars.
However, they did not provide details about the type of weapons or the timing of the delivery, A2 reports.
The Wall Street Journal, citing two sources familiar with the strategy, reported that this arms package for Ukraine could be worth up to $10 billion.
The "significant statement" that Trump promised showed that he has changed his stance on military aid to Ukraine.
But for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump did not show the same change.
He gave Russia - which has been advancing on the war front since last year - another 50 days to accept a ceasefire. Only after that period did he say he could impose sanctions on countries that trade with Russia, in order to push Moscow towards negotiations.
"The conversations with him are nice, and then at night the missiles fall," Trump said, referring to the airstrikes that Russia carries out almost every night in Ukraine.
"I don't want to say he's a murderer, but he's tough. That's been proven over the years. He's deceived a lot of people," he added, referring to Putin.
Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine one of his top foreign policy priorities. He has had at least six phone calls with Putin and sent his envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow at least three times to talk peace.
But Putin has repeatedly rejected Trump's demands for a 30-day ceasefire, responding to them with an intensification of airstrikes on Ukraine.
Trump, who has often expressed admiration for Putin as a leader and described their relationship as "very good," said he had come close to reaching an agreement to end the war about four times, but that all attempts had failed.
"I'm very disappointed in President Putin, because I thought we were going to make a deal two months ago, but it looks like that's not happening," Trump said.
John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says Trump's statements show he is "moving in the right direction" on Ukraine, but he is surprised why he is giving Putin more time.
"Putin has made it clear that, at the moment, he has no intention of seriously negotiating, so I don't understand why Trump is still waiting for sanctions," Hardie tells Radio Free Europe.
However, Trump's statement was by far the biggest support he has given Ukraine since taking office in January.
Trump has not sent any new military aid to Ukraine so far, hoping he can convince Putin and end the war early in his term.
His predecessor, President Joe Biden, approved $67 billion in military aid, but when he left office, about $4 billion remained unused.
During the election campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized Biden's aid to Ukraine, promoting his "America First" agenda.
Now, by presenting the delivery of weapons through NATO as a sales agreement, not as aid, he can say he is honoring his campaign promise.
Russian officials did not attach much importance to Trump's statements.
"A lot can happen in 50 days, both on the battlefield and in the polls that Western governments influence. The most important thing is that this does not affect our position at all," Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of the Russian Parliament, wrote on Telegram.
Meanwhile, Russia's main stock exchange, MICEX, rose 2.7% after Trump's comments - indicating that Russian investors had expected tougher measures from the White House.
"Surprising change"
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says Trump's shift in stance on Russia and Ukraine is "quite surprising."
Trump expelled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from the Oval Office in February after a clash between them over the war, which was broadcast live on television.
Trump accused the Ukrainian leader, who was demanding more weapons, of not wanting to end the war.
A few days earlier, Trump had called him a "dictator" - a word he had never used for Putin, who continues to rule Russia for more than a quarter of a century.
But then, Ukraine accepted Trump's request for a 30-day ceasefire, while Putin demanded conditions that Kiev and Western officials considered unreasonable.
As Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian cities and kill hundreds of civilians, the US president began to express frustration with Putin, even calling him "crazy."
"You've seen that, over the last few months, Trump has been moving more and more towards a tougher stance against Putin. I think today's statement didn't go as far as it could have, but there were concrete moves," Kupchan tells Radio Free Europe.
Bill Courtney, a former US diplomat and analyst at the RAND Institute, says Trump made many attempts to end the war, and Putin's refusal was "very embarrassing" for the administration.
However, Putin has now "overdone it," according to him, leading Trump to oppose him.
Sanctions and customs duties
During the meeting in the Oval Office, Trump said he would impose "secondary tariffs" if Russia does not accept the ceasefire within 50 days, or by early September.
But, these comments were unclear and created confusion.
The US president did not clarify which countries would be affected by these taxes.
A Russia sanctions bill in Congress uses the same term and targets countries that buy Russian oil.
Oil exports are the main source of revenue for Russia's budget - about a third.
China, India and Turkey are the main buyers of Russian oil. Turkey is a member of NATO, while India is part of QUAD - a diplomatic partnership that also includes the United States, Australia and Japan.
"It won't be easy to put pressure on India because it is a US partner in QUAD, while China has influence over the US in some areas, such as rare earth metals," says Courtney.
Later, CNN, citing an unidentified White House official, reported that Trump, when he spoke of "secondary tariffs," meant 100 percent tariffs on Russia and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy Russian oil.
Radio Free Europe was unable to confirm this interpretation.
Secondary sanctions are a powerful tool and could force financial institutions and other entities in China, India, and Turkey to avoid doing business with Russia.
Implementation is essential
Since taking office, Trump has not imposed any new economic sanctions on Russia, weakening the overall system of sanctions against this country.
New sanctions should be imposed regularly, to deter attempts to evade them, for example, through the creation of shell companies.
Experts say that imposing new sanctions without strengthening their implementation will reduce their effect.
"The political will to implement sanctions on Russia is not great, and that differs from the priorities for sanctions on China or Iran," Rachel Ziemba, an analyst at the Center for a New American Strategy, tells Radio Free Europe.
Kimberly Donovan, a sanctions expert at the Atlantic Council in Washington, says that if the US wants to bring Russia to the negotiating table, it needs to get tougher on the Russian oil industry.
"I think we should take steps to sanction Russian oil, like we did with Iran," she says.
Iranian oil production fell sharply after US sanctions, severely damaging the country's economy.
Kupchan believes that passing the Russia sanctions bill will have "symbolic significance," even if Trump only implements parts of it.
"This sends a message to Putin that Trump is ready to toughen up the measures," he says, adding that there could be further steps against Russia./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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