Washington, Moscow speed toward confrontation

WASHINGTON is barreling toward a confrontation with Moscow, as tension grows between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin has ramped up strikes on Ukraine in the days since Trump lashed out at the Russian leader for continuing to fight.

Russia pounded residential parts of Kyiv with an overnight bombardment that lasted into the early hours of Thursday, the second consecutive day of escalated drone and missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital city.

Trump mused openly this week about slapping new economic sanctions on Russia and its business partners. Congress appears poised to act.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says he expects to bring up a bipartisan sanctions bill for a vote in the next few weeks.

The bill would slap massive tariffs on Russian oil, gas and uranium and impose tariffs on countries that purchase the sanctioned products.

“The real focus of the bill is to hit the customers of Putin,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a co-sponsor of the bill. “China and India buy 70 percent of Russian oil and gas and other petroleum products. I’ve always believed the way this war ends is when China goes to Putin and says, ‘Enough already, you’re hurting us now.’”

The bill would give Trump broad discretion in how to apply the sanctions.

Still, there could be an off-ramp for Russia before Congress moves.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Malaysia on Thursday.

Rubio said the two sides exchanged new ideas for peace talks, although he stressed the uncertainty surrounding the new proposal.

“I think it’s a new and a different approach,” Rubio said. “I wouldn’t characterize it as something that guarantees a peace, but it’s a concept that, you know, that I’ll take back to the president.”

The New York Times reports Putin is pushing ahead with the war because he’s certain “Russia’s battlefield superiority is growing and that Ukraine’s defenses may collapse in the coming months.”

Reuters reports that the U.S. restarted shipments of defensive munitions to Ukraine on Wednesday night. Trump authorized the shipments, overruling his own Defense Department, which had briefly paused military aid to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with European and American officials Thursday at a conference in Rome, as he seeks support from allies.

Ahead of the conference, Ukraine announced it will replace its ambassador to the U.S.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, has been speaking bullishly about a potential ceasefire in Gaza by week’s end.

Axios reports that senior U.S., Israeli and Qatari officials held private talks at the White House as they seek to iron out sticking points between Israel and Hamas.

Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice this week at the White House.

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The New York Times reports that Israeli intelligence officials concluded that "some of Iran’s underground stockpile of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium" survived U.S. and Israeli bombings last month.

The official said any efforts by Iran to recover the material would be detected ahead of time, potentially resulting in additional strikes.

Trump announced plans to slap a 50 percent tariff on all goods from Brazil, saying he’s not happy about the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro over an alleged plot to stay in power after losing an election.

Trump has been sending letters to countries informing them of their new tariff rates. But his letter to Brazil’s current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was different.

“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” Trump wrote.

Trump said the U.S. would impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazil “due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.”

Lula fired back in a lengthy post on X: “Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not accept any form of tutelage.”

The Brazilian president also threatened retaliatory tariffs, saying “any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in accordance with Brazil's Economic Reciprocity Law.”