After canceling a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Trump administration yesterday announced new sanctions on two of Russia’s top oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, pillars of the Russian economy. These sanctions, among the largest ever levied against Russia, aim not just to curb the Russian dictator’s ability to fund his war machine, but to muscle him back to the negotiating table.

“Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump told press in the Oval Office yesterday. “It’s time to make a deal. A lot of people are dying.”

“Look, these are tremendous sanctions,” he said, “… and we hope that they won’t be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled.”

President Trump’s hope defies history. Since Russia invaded Ukraine 1,340 days ago, the U.S. has coordinated with the EU, UK and G-7 partners to impose extensive sanctions on Russia. Overall the effect has been to drive Russia closer to its Asian allies China and India. And a recent analysis by Reuters shows that, despite tough talk from Europe, seven European states actually boosted imports of Russian energy over the past year.

Putin’s determination to prosecute his war has proved intractable despite steep costs in manpower, matériel and favor with the West. More sanctions will not change his mind.

As our latest cover story brings out, President Trump’s efforts to “make a deal” with the likes of Putin have achieved the opposite of what he has hoped: Russia has intensified its killing; Asia has united against the U.S; and Europe has militarized, which will have severe unintended consequences Trump does not foresee.

Current events are proving that real peace cannot be achieved through the crude tools man has at hand apart from God. To understand, read “The Roadblock to Peace.”