Consider This from NPR - Trump threatens Russia over Ukraine. Will it make a difference?

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

President Trump has made some big shifts in U.S. policy on Russia's war with Ukraine lately. In the course of two weeks, Trump halted and reinstated weapons to Ukraine and he began openly showing frustration with Russian president Vladimir Putin's continued military escalations. Now, Trump has announced a deal with NATO to try to pressure Russia toward a ceasefire deal in just 50 days by threatening stiff tariffs and increased military aid to Ukraine. President Trump seems to be taking a tougher stance against Russia, but will it make a difference, and will it last? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you've lost track of where the U.S. stands on Russia's war with Ukraine, you're forgiven. Earlier this month, the administration announced it wasn't going to keep sending weapons to Ukraine. It's unclear how long this pause will last. The Pentagon said the stockpiles of munitions had been depleted from the U.S. support for Ukraine, as well as military operations. Delay includes key air defense interceptors and marks a shift in priorities under President Trump. These munitions were... Days later, things seemed to shift. President Trump told reporters that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call. Apparently, it didn't go well. And we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine. But as you know, the war with Ukraine, and I'm not happy about that.

I'm not happy. Not happy because Russia was continuing to bombard Ukraine, something President Trump noted during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. They're getting hit very hard now. They're getting hit very hard. That same evening, he backed away from the decision to pause weapons shipments.

We're going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. The U.S. began shipping weapons two days after the president made those remarks. And Monday, seated next to NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta, Trump increased pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, threatening secondary tariffs and promising

to provide more weapons for Ukraine. So in a nutshell, we're going to make top of the line weapons and they'll be sent to NATO. Consider this, when it comes to Ukraine, President Trump seems to be taking a tougher stance against Russia. But will it make a difference? And will it last? From NPR, I'm Juana Sommers.

It's Consider This from NPR. President Trump made two important announcements today on the Russia-Ukraine war. First, he outlined a new way for US weapons to reach Ukraine. Second, he threatened harsh measures against Russia if it does not make a deal to stop the fighting. NPR National Security correspondent Greg Myhre has been covering this and joins us now. Hi there. Greg Myhre, NPR National Security Correspondent So Greg, can you just start by taking a big step back and taking a look at President Trump's larger message with me? He now wants to arm Ukraine. And he keeps criticizing Russian

President Vladimir Putin. How do we get here? Yeah. I mean, we're now seeing Trump take very different positions than the ones he's held dating back to the beginning of his first term. Over the years, he consistently sounded more sympathetic toward Russia and Putin than Ukraine and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But in recent weeks, Trump has turned sharply against Putin, mostly or entirely because the Russian leader refuses to accept Trump's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Today, Trump described Putin as someone who strikes a positive, friendly tone in their phone calls and then turns around and does exactly the opposite.

I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done. And I always hang up and say, well, that was a nice phone call. And then missiles launched into Kiev or some other city. And I said, strange. And after that happens three or four times, you say the talk doesn't mean anything. Trump's critical comments today carried even more weight because he made them in the Oval Office sitting next to NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta and announcing a new plan to arm Ukraine.

Now, Greg, Trump has long been a critic of additional US weapons for Ukraine. So how would this work? Trump says the US will sell American weapons to NATO countries and they'll provide those arms to Ukraine. So how would this work? Tom Boman, MPR Colleague, U.S. President Trump says the U.S. will sell American weapons to NATO countries and they'll provide those arms to Ukraine. Trump says this includes 17 Patriot air defense systems, far more than Ukraine has now, and they're absolutely critical for Ukraine in defending against Russian missile strikes. The president didn't give a lot of details but a NATO official speaking on condition of anonymity to our NPR colleague Tom Bowman says some weapons that were in Poland are already moving across the border to Ukraine. Now if all this plays out as presented today, it would address several critical issues simultaneously.

Trump has balked at the cost of arming Ukraine. Now he says it won't cost the US anything. NATO countries will pay. European nations can demonstrate that they're doing more to handle security on their continent. Trump cited the recent NATO conference as a real breakthrough. He's now praising European states for their defense commitments, another big change. Right. And what might this mean for Ukraine on the battlefield?

Well, it addresses Ukraine's most pressing military problem, a shortage of weapons in general and air defenses in particular. The last big U.S. weapons package was approved more than a year ago under President Biden, and that package is running out. Russia is exploiting this by massively stepping up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, hoping to exhaust Ukraine's defenses. Ukraine really didn't have any great options, but if the arrangement works out, as outlined by Trump, it's a win that everybody could claim. Trump, the European nations, and Ukraine.

If anything, Greg, what have you been hearing from Ukraine? Well, we are hearing some initial positive responses with some caution. Here's Aleksandr Merezhko. He's a member of Ukraine's parliament who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee. Well, hopefully it might mean the change of the mood and stance of President Trump. But at the same time, we are very careful about this taking into consideration the previous experience, experience of not consistency on his part. Now we also heard President Trump warn that Russia could face harsh measures. Tell us what they are.

Yeah, the president says he'll impose stiff tariffs if Russia doesn't agree to a deal on the war in the next 50 days. Trump appears to be referring to that ceasefire proposal that's been on the table for months at this point. Now, the tariffs appear to be mostly a threat right now. A Senate bill would impose sanctions of up to 500% on countries that buy Russian oil, like China, India, Brazil. Now, those countries would be hit very hard, but it's actually pretty difficult for the U.S. to punish Russia directly because Moscow is already heavily sanctioned by the West and does

very little business with the U.S. That's NPR's Greg Myhre. Greg, thank you. Sure thing, Juana. This episode was produced by Michael Levitt and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Courtney Doherty, Andrew Sussman, and John Ketchum. Our executive producer is Sammy Yannigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Juana Sommers. Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Consider This sponsor free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get Consider This Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.