Russia realized there would be consequences if it avoids good-faith negotiations – US expert

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27.10.2025 07:53

Ukrinform

By imposing new sanctions on Russia, U.S. President Donald Trump has demonstrated his long-standing approach to negotiations, which involves countermeasures with serious consequences if a party refuses to engage in good-faith dialogue.

Andrew Peek, former Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the White House National Security Council, said this in a comment to Ukrinform on the sidelines of the Ukraine Action Summit.

Peek noted that the president conducts negotiations in a style he got used to – first giving the other side every opportunity to reach a deal, and then, if that approach fails, taking countermeasures.

He recalled that Trump had shown a similar approach during his first term in dealing with Iran. During the 2015-2016 election campaign, Trump had promised to withdraw from the nuclear agreement. According to the former official, Trump gave both the Iranian side and the European participants a chance to achieve a better deal, but when that effort failed, he withdrew the United States from the agreement.

Peek said the fact that President Trump showed patience did not mean that those who negotiated in bad faith would avoid consequences and added that the Russians understood that now.

When asked whether Trump might quickly reverse course and lift sanctions on Russia in exchange for minor promises from Putin, Peek said that it would depend on what Moscow was prepared to offer. He added that it was necessary to wait and see how good a deal Putin might propose, if such a situation arises.

Commenting on the prospects of the United States providing Ukraine with long-range missiles such as Tomahawks or similar systems, Peek said that this decision would rest with President Trump. However, he pointed to the expected impact of sanctions against Russia's major oil companies.

He suggested that if the goal was to give Ukraine the ability to strike Russian targets such as oil refineries, sanctions targeting loopholes and companies like Rosneft would likely have a much greater effect than any number of Tomahawk missiles.

On October 22, the United States introduced a broad package of sanctions against Russian companies Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as dozens of their subsidiaries.