ASPEN, Colorado — President Donald Trump should not wait 50 days to impose secondary sanctions on Russia, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže argued Wednesday.
“It should be earlier,” Braže said in an interview on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum. She argued there is no sense in giving Russian President Vladimir Putin more time when Russia forces are continuing to launch attacks.
Latvia, a NATO member and staunch Ukraine ally, also directly borders Russia and Belarus — putting it in a neighborhood where it faces considerable risk if the war with Ukraine spills beyond its borders. It contributes 3.15 percent of its GDP to NATO and has contributed 2 percent of its pre-war GDP to Ukraine assistance.
Braže welcomed Trump’s Monday announcement that the U.S. would send weapons to Ukraine and that he would impose secondary tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that still trade with Russia if Moscow does not agree to a peace deal in 50 days.
But Russia still preserves its ability to keep fighting “for a while,” she warned, saying the West must immediately ramp up pressure on Moscow to try to force it to the negotiating table. Imposing sanctions without delay would be a way to do that.
The U.S. and its allies must make sure “Russia understands that it’s not going to do better, but worse with every day,” she said. “We’re seeing that already, the Russian economy is not doing well.”
Asked Tuesday why he would give Putin two months to accede to his demands, Trump said he could move more quickly.
“I don’t think 50 days is very long. It could be sooner than that,” Trump said.
Braže said sanctions could have a real impact on the battlefield.
“What we are looking for is pressure on Russia and weakening Russia’s ability to conduct warfare. It’s not about the Russian people,” she said. “It’s about the Russian war fighting capacity and what they are doing on the battlefield, that all needs to be weakened.”
Intelligence assessments broadly conclude that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in ending the war, she added. U.S. intelligence reached that conclusion earlier this year as negotiations have dragged on.
“The intel and overall assessment has been aligned among the allies, including the Americans, that there is no indication that Putin wants peace,” she said.
Trump has come to the same conclusion after trying to keep the door open for Russia, she argued.
“It was a question of time when it was clear that Putin is just fooling everyone and delaying, delaying tactics,” she said.
The EU will soon pass an additional sanctions package that will lower the oil price cap and target Russia’s financial sector. Slovakia is the lone hold out, two European officials said. Braže declined to name the country holding back the package, but she said it is “ready to go” once one final country agrees.
Other Western officials at the conference were cautiously optimistic about Trump’s tone shift earlier this week.
“We hope it’s finally true,” said Halyna Yanchenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament in the Servant of the People party.
“With Trump you always never know what the final policy is,” a European official said, granted anonymity to speak candidly about an ally. “The shift is very welcome if the shift is real.”
