Trump privately told European leaders that Putin is not ready to end the war - WSJ
Kyiv • UNN
According to the WSJ, Trump told European leaders that Putin does not want peace because he thinks he is winning. Trump also proposed holding negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in the Vatican.
U.S. President Donald Trump privately stated in a phone call to European leaders that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is not ready to end the war, citing three people familiar with the conversation, The Wall Street Journal reports, writes UNN.
Details
"On Monday, during a telephone conversation, President Trump told European leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ready to end the war in Ukraine because he thinks he is winning," the publication writes, citing three people familiar with the conversation.
As the publication notes, "this recognition was what European leaders have long believed about Putin, but they heard it from Trump for the first time." It also contradicted what Trump often said publicly, that he believed Putin sincerely wanted peace, the publication notes.
The White House declined to comment and referred to Trump's social media post on Monday about his conversation with Putin. "The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent. If it wasn't, I would say it now," he said.
"Although Trump seems to have come to the conclusion that Putin is not ready for peace, this did not force him to do what the Europeans and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy argued he should do: double down on the fight against Russia," the publication points out.
Trump, as noted, had a previous phone conversation with European leaders on Sunday - the day before his two-hour conversation with Putin. "Then he made it clear that he could impose sanctions if Putin refuses a ceasefire," according to people familiar with the conversation. "By Monday, he had changed his position again. He was not ready to do it. Instead, Trump said he wanted to quickly continue negotiations at a lower level between Russia and Ukraine at the Vatican," the publication reads.
Trump's phone call on Monday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders, as indicated, "was partly the culmination of a European diplomatic offensive that began about 10 days ago and was aimed at forcing Trump to put pressure on Putin."
Although the effort was ultimately unsuccessful in getting Trump to do so through additional sanctions, "Europeans saw some positives in the result." "The process helped everyone, including Trump, clarify Putin's position: he does not want to stop the war at this stage. And for the Europeans, it helped emphasize that they now need to support Ukraine in many ways," the publication writes. "Europeans do not believe that the Trump administration will stop arms exports from the US as long as Europe or Ukraine pay for them," people said.
Addition
On Monday, May 19, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump. It lasted more than 2 hours. Later, the head of the White House announced that Ukraine and Russia will immediately start negotiations on ending the war.
Also, after the conversation with Putin, the US President "reported" about it during a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Axios learned the details of Trump's conversation with EU leaders and Zelenskyy, indicating that some seemed "surprised" or "shocked".
