Russia keeps bombing Ukraine, including unmistakably civilian targets, and President Donald Trump reacts by threatening to impose sanctions or tariffs, then moves the threat’s deadlines up or back several times, to the point where nobody—least of all Russian President Vladimir Putin—would take any of them seriously.

Russia claims it has learned to live under sanctions. But the Kremlin doesn't understand that Trump’s blow is aimed not directly at Russia but at the consumers of Russian energy, according to a post by US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Trump's efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine might backfire on trade talks, a strategust said this week.