During his return trip to the United States from Rome on Saturday, April 26, Donald Trump stated that he does not believe Vladimir Putin is genuinely interested in ending the war in Ukraine.
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This statement contrasts with his comments just a day before, when he stated that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were “very close to an agreement”.
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Trump could apply sanctions against Russia
Trump shared his opinion through a post on Truth Social, where he criticized the recent Russian missile attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine.
The President of the United States said that “there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently”. He added that he could consider options such as “banking” or “secondary sanctions”.
Sanctions against Russia are a measure that several Republican allies, including Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, have been pushing for. Grassley had publicly called for “the toughest sanctions on Putin,” stating that there is “clear evidence” that the Russian leader is disrespecting the United States.
Trump’s stance, who had promised during the presidential campaign to end the war in Ukraine in “24 hours” as soon as he took office, represents a significant shift amid his team’s efforts to achieve a resolution to the conflict that began in February 2022 when Russian forces invaded Ukrainian territory. Trump’s optimistic outlook on reaching an agreement, expressed after his special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Putin in Moscow on Thursday, was thus called into question.
Trump seems to have adopted a new stance against Putin, as on Thursday he also questioned the Russian president by criticizing the attack on Kiev: “They are not necessary and come at a very inopportune time. Vladimir, STOP! 5,000 soldiers are dying every week.”.
First meeting between Trump and Zelensky after the embarrassment of the White House
These statements were made after Trump attended the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican, where he held a brief meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The brief conversation was their first direct exchange since the embarrassing meeting they both had in the Oval Office at the end of February. That episode led to the temporary suspension of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine.
This meeting, which lasted about 15 minutes, took place inside St. Peter’s Basilica and was positively evaluated by both the White House and Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president described it on social media as a “good meeting” and expressed his hope that the topics discussed will help protect the citizens of his country, achieve a complete ceasefire, and establish lasting peace.
The White House described the conversation as “very productive”.
A longer meeting was not possible, as after the funeral ceremony, Trump went directly to the Rome airport to board his return flight.
Putin was not present at Pope Francis’ funeral. The Russian president faces an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes related to the invasion of Ukraine.
This week as well, in an interview with Time magazine, Trump stated that the Crimean peninsula “will remain with Russia”. Crimea was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, long before the large-scale offensive that began in 2022.
Trump considers Zelensky’s demands to recover Crimea and other occupied regions as unrealistic. In addition to Crimea, Russia maintains control over parts of the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson.