When President Trump announced sweeping new sanctions on Russia’s energy sector yesterday, many of us who value peace through strength let out a long, relieved sigh. Finally. After months of drawn-out talks and mounting civilian deaths in Ukraine, Trump is putting his money where his mouth is.

The sanctions — targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil — strike at the very heart of Vladimir Putin’s war machine. Oil and gas exports are the engine that funds his tanks, missiles, and mercenaries. Cut off that cash flow, and you squeeze the arteries of the Kremlin.

It’s the right move. But it came late, much too late.

Diplomacy and Deception

When Trump returned to the Oval Office, he came in with a clear promise: no new forever wars, no blank checks, and a preference for direct negotiation over bureaucratic bluster. That was a refreshing change from years of muddled foreign policy under both parties. America First doesn’t mean America alone. It means our interests come first, and we use diplomacy before force.

But in this case, diplomacy was met with deception.

For nearly a year, President Trump’s team engaged in behind-the-scenes talks with Moscow, hoping to broker what he called a “fair and lasting peace.” The administration believed Putin might be persuaded by economic incentives and security guarantees to halt his invasion.

Instead, Putin used the pause to buy time. He ramped up weapons production, redirected oil exports to Asia, and launched waves of missile and drone attacks that killed thousands more Ukrainians. While the West talked, Russia ramped up its aggression.

That’s not peacekeeping; That’s being played.

The Strongman’s Trap

It’s no secret that President Trump has long believed in personal diplomacy: the idea that two tough men can sit across the table and hammer out a deal. Sometimes that works. But Vladimir Putin isn’t a man of his word. He’s a KGB veteran who uses negotiations like camouflage: not as a path to peace but as a strategic smokescreen for ongoing aggression.

Putin’s strategy has always been simple: talk just enough to stall sanctions and split Western unity. Unfortunately, he pulled that playbook off the shelf repeatedly, and it worked. For nearly a year, he convinced Washington that diplomacy was still worth trying, all while bombing Ukrainian schools and hospitals.

President Trump was strategically misled due to confidence in his own negotiating ability. That’s an error many strong leaders have made: believing that sheer willpower can reform a tyrant.

A Welcome Correction

That’s why this new round of sanctions matters. It’s a course correction, late but necessary.

By freezing Russian oil revenues and urging Europe to join the effort, the Trump administration is finally doing what we and the rest of the world’s democracies should have done months ago.

These sanctions align with genuine conservative principles: not neocon interventionism, not isolationism, but strategic realism.

• Support our allies.
• Punish aggression.
• Avoid endless wars.
• Use America’s economic and diplomatic might as a shield for freedom.

This is what “peace through strength” actually looks like.

Europe’s Wake-Up Call

Let’s be honest: Europe also needed this push. For years, the EU has wrung its hands over Russia while buying billions in Russian energy. It’s hard to lecture about human rights when your gas pipeline funds the dictator.

Trump’s decision to link sanctions with trade pressure on Europe is bold and overdue. The message is clear: if the West wants moral credibility, it has to put its money where its values are.

The Real Test Ahead

Sanctions are not an end; they’re a means. The goal isn’t punishment. It’s peace with justice.

If this new pressure forces Putin to the table under real terms — not another phony cease-fire, not another “temporary truce” — then it will be a historic turning point. But if Washington wavers or lifts sanctions too soon, it’ll just prove to Putin that America talks tough but folds fast.

The administration must stay the course, coordinate tightly with Europe, and make sure enforcement is airtight. No loopholes, no backdoors, and no Chinese shell companies sneaking oil around the system.

Because the stakes are clear: if Russia gets away with this war, every tyrant watching — from Beijing to Tehran — will learn the same lesson: brutality works because the West is timid.

Final Thoughts

President Trump deserves credit for finally drawing a hard line. His instincts for negotiation were noble. No one wants endless conflict. But there comes a time when patience becomes passivity. When good faith is answered with bad deeds, strength must speak.

These sanctions, though delayed, are a step in the right direction. They send a message the free world desperately needs to hear: America will not be duped, delayed, or divided by dictators.

Peace through strength is not just a slogan. It’s a biblical principle of justice backed by wisdom: “To every thing there is a season… a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time of war, and a time of peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7, 8).

Now is the time to speak, and to act.