Putin not ready for peace, Trump tells EU leaders behind closed doors
According to The Wall Street Journal, US president Donald Trump admitted to European leaders that Russian president Vladimir Putin is not ready to end the war in Ukraine. Trump made the comments during a telephone call on Monday, the newspaper writes, citing three people who are aware of the conversation.
For some time, European leaders have suspected that Putin was unwilling to end the war in Ukraine. It is believed he is stalling negotiations for a truce because he feels Russia is winning the war and wants to capture more Ukrainian territory first.
According to The Wall Street Journal, EU leaders received confirmation of this from US president Trump this week. Following a two-hour telephone conversation with Putin on Monday, Trump reportedly informed them that the Russian president was in no hurry to end the war in Ukraine.
This contradicts Trump's public statements, in which he has repeatedly claimed that Putin genuinely wants peace. The White House declined to comment on the report, citing Trump's Truth Social post about his conversation with Putin. "The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent," he wrote.
Having told EU leaders on Sunday that the US might impose sanctions if Putin refused a ceasefire, Trump now seems unwilling to do so. Instead, Trump said he wanted to quickly move forward with lower-level talks between Russia and Ukraine at the Vatican.
Trump's conversation on Monday included Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
On Thursday, Von der Leyen's spokesperson said the conversation with Trump showed that "president Putin reiterated his well-known position" that he is winning the war and does not want peace. "We cannot say he is not consistent."
Last week, Von der Leyen announced that the EU was working on an 18th sanctions package against Russia. Among other things, the EU wants to prevent the recommissioning of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, impose financial sanctions and expand the blacklist of ships in Russia's shadow fleet.
US president Donald Trump speaks with France's president Emmanuel Macron, UK prime minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral at the Vatican in April © PHOTO UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP
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