After a phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the American president is likely to withdraw from the negotiation process, writes The New York Times.
Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders that Russia and Ukraine should find a solution to end the war themselves. These words were spoken just a few days after his claims that only he could mediate a «deal». According to six officials familiar with the discussion, Trump backed away from his own threats to join the European pressure campaign, which would include new sanctions against Russia.
According to NYT, if Trump does not change his course again, then as a result of Monday's events, Putin will get exactly what he wanted: not only the cessation of American pressure but also a deep rift within NATO.
Many believe that Trump's decision was predetermined — first by his scandalous televised meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office, and then by the resignation of the American ambassador in Kyiv. «From the very beginning of the Trump administration, the policy has been to pressure the victim — Ukraine, not the aggressor — Russia», wrote Bridget Brink, a former ambassador and long-time diplomatic service employee, who left Kyiv in April. — Peace at any cost — is not peace, it's appeasement«.
Trump found that he could not achieve peace at any cost because Putin rejected his proposals. Statements by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Ukraine would never join NATO and should abandon hopes of reclaiming all territories captured by Russia were insufficient for the Kremlin.
At the same time, Trump, a proponent of tough financial pressure, made an exception. One of the publication's interlocutors believes that additional sanctions against Russia will hinder business development, and the president wants to maximize economic opportunities for Americans.
In his public comments, Trump hinted that his conversation with Putin led to some breakthrough. But Ukrainians and Europeans quickly realized that the Russian leader did not make concessions to Trump, except for negotiations.
During the election campaign, Trump promised that he would establish peace between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours, presenting it as an easy task for a master negotiator. Since then, he has discovered that it is much more complicated than he imagined, and now says he was «a bit sarcastic» when he voiced those timelines.
In his post on Monday, he made it clear that he wishes to withdraw the United States from the discussion and move on to making business deals with Russia. The terms of ending the war, Trump wrote, «will be discussed between the two parties, as it should be, because they know the details of the negotiations that no one else knows».
Then he moved on to what some European leaders believe is his real goal: normalizing relations between Washington and Moscow.
As a result, Europe is imposing new sanctions, and the United States seems ready to move in the opposite direction, seeking to bypass Ukraine and establish closer relations with Russia. This is exactly the split within NATO that Putin has sought to create and exploit for two decades.
Photo: The New York Times