While “overall there was a positive atmosphere,” they told POLITICO, “Trump, as always, talked a lot about what he would do, but in a way that no one could say what exactly he was going to do.” Angling for a Nobel Peace Prize, he is promising “severe consequences” if Putin does not seem serious in Alaska about ending the war, presumably meaning that the U.S. will ramp up secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Russia. But the Europeans are fully aware it is not so long since Trump publicly humiliated Zelenskyy, pushed Ukraine to pay for the costs of the war via a minerals deal and mused about the merits of big economic development deals with Putin.
Author: Nicholas Vinocur, Gabriel Gavin
Published at: 2025-08-13 20:55:18
Still want to read the full version? Full article
