As Donald Trump sets a 10-day Ukraine deadline, Vladimir Putin is said to be ‘preparing to invade a new country’.
The US president said yesterday (29 July) that the US will start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia if Moscow doesn’t show any progress towards ending its war on Ukraine.
He mentioned a new deadline of ‘10 or 12 days’ and told reporters he had not heard from Russia. But while Trump threatens Putin with serious economic sanctions over his more than three-year-long war on Ukraine, it is suggested he’s looked at more aggression in the coming years.
A US intelligence expert believes the nation will be making ‘another offensive military campaign’, as it was suggested another post-soviet State would be attacked: Moldova, on the border of Ukraine.
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The small country has been subject to severe pressure from Russia in the past and has a large Russian-speaking population.
Ivana Stradner, who studies Russia’s security strategies and military doctrines, explains in The Telegraph that its media spreads ‘outlandish claims’ that Moldova is laced with Western intelligence services. Adding to reasons why the nation may target the Eastern European spot, the media also claims ‘MI6 is taking control of the Moldovan elections’.
Plus, Moscow has even made claims that intelligence in Moldova has been working with Ukraine to ‘sabotage Russia’.
So, these claims would suggest Moldova is being used as a weapon against Russia by the West. Therefore, it could lead to it falling into the same situation as Ukraine.
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US intelligence expert Rebekah Koffler also explained the idea Russia may launch another attack in the coming years.
“As a military intelligence analyst specialising in Putin’s thinking and Russian military strategy, I agree with Rutte’s assessment about Russia’s readiness for another offensive military campaign in just a few years,” she wrote for The Telegraph.
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"I’m less convinced that a NATO country is likely to be the Kremlin’s next target, unless the alliance directly intervenes in Ukraine by deploying troops onto the battlefield.
"Nevertheless, what NATO does or doesn’t do in the next few years could be highly significant in determining whether Putin decides to attack another post-Soviet state, such as Moldova."
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Speaking on his flight back from Scotland yesterday, Trump said he wasn’t worried about the potential impact of Russian sanctions on the oil market or prices.
“I don't know if it's going to affect Russia, because (Russian President Vladimir Putin) wants to, obviously, probably keep the war going," he said.
"But we're going to put on tariffs and the various things that you put on."
Topics: Donald Trump, Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, US News, World News
Jess Battison