TURBOCHARGED TRUMP TINKERS WITH TOMAHAWK TACTIC

Trump has learnt from Gaza that pressure pays. His plan to supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles may be to serve a diplomatic goal rather than a military one

- - MK BHADRAKUMAR Former diplomat

AN extreme pressure' strategy on part of the Trump administration to coerce Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine is certain to meet with resistance. The amiable Anchorage meeting between the two leaders on August 15 has not restrained Russian military from creating new facts on the ground.

Donald Trump has not so far addressed the core issues for Russia-a European security architecture, and demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine. Putin, sensing a long haul ahead, disclosed that Russia may soon unveil new weapons, and flagged "the modernity of our nuclear deterrence forces exceeding that of any other nuclear-armed nation".

However, Moscow scrupulously avoids sparring with Trump even as it tiptoes into a new phase of his presidency"Trump Unbound'-as he looks to cement the end of hostilities in Gaza, and his attention turns back to Russia. If there is one lesson Trump deduces from his recent 'victory' in West Asia, it must be that pressure and arm-twisting can work. The US assistance for Ukraine's long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities and potential delivery of Tomahawk missiles suggest Trump is getting tougher with Putin.

On Sunday, the Financial Times reported that Washington "has for months been helping Ukraine mount long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities, in... a coordinated effort to weaken Vladimir Putin's economy and force him to the negotiating table".