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President Donald Trump vowed to enforce "very terrible consequences" connected Russia successful 2025 if it didn't perpetrate to a woody to extremity its warfare connected Ukraine.
As the warfare nears its four-year day successful precocious February, nationalist information experts archer Fox News Digital that Russia is facing tangible consequences for the war. Those are done its web of proxy countries that person straight endured the mightiness of the U.S. subject and subsequently near Russia with less streams of gross and resources, they say.
"The President's moves arsenic it pertains to Russia are truly strategic," Morgan Murphy, who antecedently served arsenic the elder nationalist diplomacy advisor to the president’s peculiar envoy to Ukraine successful 2025, told Fox News Digital. "So if you look astatine what he's done with Iran and with Venezuela, these are 2 Russian proxies, right? Iran is simply a adjacent state of Russia."
"They merchantability a batch of drones to Russia," Murphy, who is moving arsenic a GOP Senate campaigner to correspond Alabama, continued. "Venezuela was again a proxy of Russia present successful our hemisphere, and Trump is successful the process of taking Iran disconnected the table. He's surely taken Venezuela disconnected the chessboard, and that that has to alteration Putin's calculus, due to the fact that helium sees successful President Trump a president who follows what helium says he's going to do."
Russia's warfare connected Ukraine has persisted since Feb. 24, 2022, astir a twelvemonth aft Trump's archetypal medication ended and during President Joe Biden's presidency. Trump campaigned connected ending the warfare upon his 2nd inauguration successful 2025, but ending the warfare has proven much hard than anticipated arsenic the U.S. continues negotiations.
A White House authoritative who spoke to Fox Digital said Trump is driven by humanitarian concerns and wants the struggle ended to halt the needless nonaccomplishment of life. The authoritative added that successful caller months his squad has made large headway toward a settlement, pointing to Trump’s ain remarks that "very bully things" are processing betwixt Ukraine and Russia.
According to the official, caller negotiations successful Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, were substantive and constructive, with U.S., Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreeing to a 314-person captive speech — the archetypal successful 5 months. While much enactment is ahead, the authoritative argued that breakthroughs similar this amusement sustained diplomacy is producing real, measurable advancement toward ending the war.
Trump launched a bid of strikes connected Iran successful June 2025 that hobbled the country's covert atomic program. Massive protests swept Iran successful December 2025 arsenic citizens spoke retired against the authorities and its cratering economy.
Iran violently cracked down connected the nationwide protests, with thousands of citizens reportedly killed and the Trump medication informing Iran that it would look U.S. subject enactment if the executions and killings continued.
The U.S. and Iran held discussions successful Oman Friday arsenic Tehran, Iran, continues to obscure its atomic ambitions, with subject involution connected the array arsenic the U.S. seeks to forestall Iran from having atomic weapons capabilities.
Iran and Russia person grown into a tighter wartime concern successful caller years, with U.S. and allied officials citing Iran’s proviso of equipped drones and different defence practice that has helped powerfulness Russia’s attacks successful Ukraine — drafting the 2 heavy sanctioned regimes person economically and militarily.
Ret. Air Force Gen. Bruce Carlson pointed to the Trump administration's actions connected Iran and Venezuela arsenic grounds of however Trump is strategically pressuring Russia via its proxies to extremity the warfare successful Ukraine.
"In immoderate campaign, you don’t conscionable people bid centers — you chopped proviso lines and logistics," Carlson said. "Pressuring Russian proxies does precisely that. Venezuela, Iran, and the shadiness fleet are cardinal arteries feeding Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine. Additionally, by pressing Europe to increase NATO spending and determination disconnected Russian lipid and gas, we are straight altering Moscow’s decision-making."
Carlson argued that, strategically, the inclination lines are moving against Moscow arsenic the U.S. ramps up unit connected Russia’s partners — leaving Putin with less backers, tighter resources and little flexibility, and undermining immoderate presumption that dragging retired the warfare comes without a cost.
The retired Air Force wide added that Putin and his proxies run arsenic a azygous ecosystem: Russia’s run relies connected extracurricular suppliers and sanctions-busting networks, truthful hitting immoderate nexus successful that concatenation tin weaken Russia’s gross and its quality to prolong attacks connected Ukrainian civilians.
"But ensuring a lasting and just bid is not solely astir pressuring Russia. As the acold wintertime continues successful Ukraine, determination are expanding concerns connected Ukraine’s vigor needs and aerial defence systems. U.S. and European enactment stay vital," helium added.
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As tensions with Iran heighten, the Trump medication successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro connected sweeping narco-trafficking charges successful January.
Venezuela is different Russian ally, publically backing Moscow and maintaining high-level diplomatic ties, portion giving Russia a Western Hemisphere foothold done military-technical practice and heavy dependence connected Russian arms — a narration that has triggered U.S. sanctions actions tied to Venezuela’s lipid assemblage and Russian-linked firms.
"The removal of Maduro stripped Moscow of a cardinal lawsuit successful our hemisphere, and the accrued unit connected Iran threatens the weapons and drone proviso concatenation that Russia uses against Ukrainian civilians," Carrie Filipetti, enforcement manager of overseas argumentation radical the Vandenberg Coalition, told Fox News Digital. "This is however we person to alteration Putin’s semipermanent calculus."
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"For the archetypal time, the United States has utilized the powerfulness of American diplomacy to bring Ukraine and Russia into trilateral diplomatic talks," Filipetti added. "Combined with the menace of further sanctions reliance and accrued unit connected the countries that bargain Russian energy, these steps are captious to shaking Russia’s presumption that clip is connected its side."
Ret. Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton told Fox News Digital that erstwhile Trump warned Russia of terrible consequences successful 2025 if Moscow did not extremity the war, the menace was followed by tangible consequences that reverberated done the Kremlin.
"Deterrence and leverage requires our adversaries (to) judge we volition act," Newton said. "President Trump is doing conscionable that by disrupting the systems that money and prolong Putin’s war. The seizure of Maduro and the conscionable announced commercialized woody with India's Prime Minister Modi — that forces India disconnected of Russian lipid — is simply a large stroke to Russia’s warfare machine."
The White House said successful February that it struck with India to summation U.S. vigor imports and halt buying Russian oil. The U.S. tops the satellite successful regular lipid production, with Saudi Arabia and Russia pursuing behind.
Filipetti argued that bid successful Ukraine is lone obtained by forcing Russia to look "real consequences."
"Vladimir Putin is liable for a warfare of aggression marked by atrocities against Ukrainian civilians, and immoderate lasting bid indispensable enforce existent consequences connected Russia itself. And weakening Russia’s proxies and isolating Putin is 1 of the astir effectual ways to trim his quality to wage war," Filipetti said.
"When it comes to China, North Korea, and Iran — without question these authoritarians are facing a precise antithetic calculus than conscionable a fewer months ago," she said.
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While Newton pointed to a shadow-fleet sanctions bundle and different sanctions bundle that are moving done Congress, on with higher NATO spending and a tougher allied subject posture, arsenic cardinal unit points helium says could assistance thrust a bid deal.
Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is promoting a sweeping Russia sanctions measure that would tighten the screws connected Moscow by punishing countries and companies that support buying Russian vigor with secondary sanctions and tariffs, portion a abstracted bipartisan "shadow fleet" bundle would people the tankers, insurers and ammunition networks Russia uses to determination lipid and evade sanctions.
Murphy argued that Trump already has sketched what helium sees arsenic a realistic off-ramp for Moscow — 1 helium says adjacent immoderate Democrats would admit arsenic the champion woody Putin is apt to get — including restoring Russia’s spot astatine the apical diplomatic table, reopening immoderate Western commercialized access, and acknowledging Russia’s existent concern of Ukrainian territory without formally recognizing sovereignty.
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Murphy likened that connection to a "golden bridge" for Putin to exit the war, but said the Kremlin has truthful acold declined it, making the adjacent determination yet Russia’s prime — and raising the question of however galore much casualties Moscow is consenting to sorb with nary wide endpoint successful sight.
The warfare underscores a Russian worldview U.S. negotiators often misread done a Western lens, Murphy said, explaining Russia is shaped by catastrophic losses successful World War I and World War II and a deep-seated suspicion that penetration is simply a recurring threat. He said that unpredictability is wherefore the U.S. subject has agelong utilized the "Crazy Ivan" moniker for Russian behavior.
Trump is meantime putting himself successful the Russians’ shoes, Murphy argued, and gathering the infinitesimal with a clearer-eyed work of Moscow’s mindset and history.
"It is simply a determination that the Russians are going to person to make. How galore much lives bash they privation to provender into this nutrient grinder? How galore much deaths are they consenting to endure?" Murphy said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters successful February that the U.S. acceptable a June deadline for Moscow and Kyiv to onslaught an statement to extremity the war, teeing up heightened tensions up of the U.S. midterms successful November.
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