Photo: Andrii Sybiha/X
On Monday, US President Donald Trump shocked European leaders during a confidential phone call with them by saying that Russia was “winning the war in Ukraine”. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal,citing sources familiar with the conversation.
This was Trump’s first open statement about Putin’s unwillingness to negotiate peace – until now, he had claimed that Putin actually wanted peace.
Despite his awareness of the situation, Trump did not initiate new sanctions against the Kremlin. Instead, he proposed to continue negotiations between Russia and Ukraine – this time on a neutral platform in the Vatican. Discussions are expected to begin in mid-June. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Representative Keith Kellogg are to represent the US in the talks.
The conversation with Trump was attended by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
European leaders have tried to persuade Trump to put more pressure on Putin, in particular through energy and financial sanctions. The EU assures that even if the Trump administration does not directly provide weapons to Ukraine, it will not interfere if it is financed by Europe or Ukraine itself.
Much of Europe’s diplomatic efforts are focused on exposing Russia’s unwillingness to make a real peace. According to the WSJ, a recent trip to Kyiv by Merz, Macron, Starmer and Tusk was aimed at persuading Zelenskyy to agree to a temporary truce to demonstrate that it is Putin who is holding back de-escalation.
Despite the positive tone of the talks, a day after his phone call with Putin, Trump cooled down on the idea of new sanctions. The EU, meanwhile, is preparing a more powerful package of restrictions, although it has already agreed on a new, albeit modest, wave of sanctions against Russia.
The next step is negotiations in the Vatican. How the US behaves there will largely determine the future vector of support for Ukraine.
