Once back in the White House, he told advisers to plan for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the hope of creating a made-for-TV spectacle during which he could formally announce a resolution to the war, two administration officials and an outside adviser told me. A few weeks ago, after meeting with Zelensky at Pope Francis’s funeral, Trump threatened new sanctions on Russia; as he put it then, Putin’s decision to ignore U.S. calls for a 30-day cease-fire revealed that he might not “want to stop the war” and “has to be dealt with differently.” But to this point, no new sanctions have been levied. In his Truth Social post, Trump suggested that the United States was stepping back from the talks because Ukraine and Russia “know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.” Hours earlier, Vice President J. D. Vance had similarly declared the conflict “not our war,” saying, “We’re going to try to end it, but if we can’t end it, we’re eventually going to say: ‘You know what?
Author: Jonathan Lemire
Published at: 2025-05-21 21:26:51
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