The US President Donald Trump is disappointed that he has not been able to resolve global crises as quickly as he had planned.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Last week, the US president spoke to donors. Trump described the process of ending Russiaʼs war in Ukraine as a "growing frustration that keeps him up at night". Trump considers negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin difficult because he "wants everything". Trump also finds it difficult to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because the parties "have been fighting for a thousand years”.
Ending the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip as soon as possible is one of Donald Trumpʼs main campaign promises. He has repeatedly said that neither conflict would have started if he were president of the United States. And he promised to end the war in Ukraine "in one day", which he later denied and called an "exaggeration".
But now that Trumpʼs presidency has crossed the 100-day mark, the wars are nowhere near over. A trade war with allies and stalled nuclear deal talks with Iran are not helping matters.
In recent weeks, Trump has privately complained to his advisers that Putin doesnʼt want the war to end and that both sides are refusing to compromise. Trump also asked his advisers if they thought Putin had changed since Trumpʼs first presidency. The US president has expressed surprise at some of Russiaʼs military moves, including bombing areas where children are.
Trump may consider his job in Ukraine done if he forces Moscow and Kyiv to start direct talks, the WSJ sources say. The rest of the developments will depend on Ukraine and Russia — and the US will focus on other priorities.
Ceasefire negotiations
Washington is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to end the war, but a true ceasefire is still in sight. Kyiv has already agreed to halt hostilities in the Black Sea and not attack Russian energy facilities during a 30-day ceasefire. Moscow, in return, has only promised not to attack energy facilities and said it would implement agreements on the Black Sea only after Western sanctions are lifted.
The US President Donald Trump threatened to impose massive sanctions on Russia, including banking sanctions and new tariffs, unless there is a ceasefire and a peace deal with Ukraine. However, he has not done so. But in the past week, the US rhetoric towards Russia has begun to intensify.
Thus, when asked by a journalist about Russiaʼs concessions in the context of the peace agreement, Trump stated that Russia would have to give up all of Ukraine:
"Russia will have to give up all of Ukraine. Because Russia wants all of Ukraine. And if I hadnʼt intervened, they would have continued to fight for all of Ukraine right now. Russia doesnʼt just need the piece it has now — it needs all of Ukraine," the US president said.
The Economist believes that Trumpʼs publication criticizing Putin, which appeared after the meeting at the Vatican, indicates that he understood Zelenskyʼs message. During the conversation, Zelensky asked Trump not to walk away from negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Also in the conversation, the Ukrainian president insisted that without pressure from the United States, Putin would not change his position. Trump in response suggested that he might reconsider his attitude towards Putin. Zelensky called for a return to the idea of an unconditional ceasefire as the basis for negotiations — Ukraine supports it, Russia had refused even earlier. Trump apparently agreed, but there is no official confirmation.
The US Vice President J.D. Vance said that Russia is demanding "too much" during peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.
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