Trump makes it clear to European leaders after conversation with Putin that he would not put pressure on Moscow – media

During a telephone conversation with European leaders on Monday evening, US President Donald Trump made it clear that he had no intention of putting additional pressure on Moscow while bilateral negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were ongoing, the Financial Times writes, citing its own sources familiar with the conversation.

The publication notes that during his conversation with Vladimir Putin, Trump did not exert any pressure on Russia to achieve a ceasefire. “According to his readout of the call, Trump also made clear that the US was bowing out as a mediator in efforts to end the war, leaving Moscow and Kyiv to figure things out themselves… For observers, it was a turning point after more than three years of conflict. A president who promised to end the Ukraine war on day one of his second term appeared to be washing his hands of the effort and leaving Ukraine to the mercy of its invader,” the article says.

The publication also notes that Trump is now more interested in rapprochement with Moscow than in resolving the war. “At this point Trump seems to see normalisation of Russia-US relations as an end in itself,” said Andrew Weiss, vice-president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Everything else is subordinated to that goal.”