President Donald Trump has called for the US to retake control of the Panama Canal unless the cost of passage for naval and merchant ships is slashed. Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of force is a throwback to the 19th century era of gunboat diplomacy.

Russia’s foreign ministry has called on Trump to reaffirm the current international agreement surrounding the Panama Canal and to leave it in control of the nation of Panama.

President Donald Trump’s insistence Monday that he wants the Panama Canal back under U.S. control fed nationalist sentiment and worry in Panama, home to the critical trade route and a country familiar with U.