Donald Trump finally questions Putin’s desire for peace

by Mick the Ram

After weeks of seemingly being strongly in Vladimir Putin’s corner regarding the search for peace in Ukraine, Donald Trump has finally caught on to the Russian leaders’ antics.

After a brief meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the funeral of Pope Francis, the US President openly questioned the Russian premier’s willingness to end the war, even suggesting that Putin had been “tapping me along” in a post on his social media platform.

Shortly after leaving Rome following the moving service, Mr Trump remarked how there was no reason for Russia to be continuing to strike Ukrainian civilian areas with deadly missiles, adding: “maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war.”

The face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelenskyy was the first time they had met since their acrimonious Oval Office showdown back in February after which the American head had actually blamed Ukraine for starting the war in the first place.

He has also previously accused Mr Zelenskyy on multiple occasions of being the main obstacle to any peace negotiations and put enormous pressure on the Ukrainian’s to accept territorial concessions as part of an agreement with Moscow to end the war.

The penny now seems to have dropped regarding Putin’s stalling tactics and he might be ready to be more supportive of the Ukrainian position, with the US President mentioning that perhaps additional “banking” and “secondary sanctions” on Russia as ways to deal with the issue.

“Productive” meeting

Striking images showed Trump and Zelenskyy locked in an intense conversation in St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the Pope’s service; although apparently it was a discussion that was amicable with the White House later describing the 15-minute meeting as “very productive” and the Ukrainians saying it had the “potential to become historic”.

Intense pressure 

It was only a couple of months ago that Mr Trump told the Ukraine leader “you don’t have the cards” and that he was “not winning” against Russia, a message he has repeated several times since.

During their heated White House exchange, Mr Trump went as far as to accuse Mr Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War Three” and has since continued to insist that Ukraine have to agree to the concessions that include giving up large portions of land, including the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

“Crimea will stay with Russia, and Zelenskyy has to understand that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” Mr Trump has often said. Those messages repeatedly fell on deaf ears on the Ukrainian side, rejecting it as a “non-negotiable”.

Potentially “historic”

It does seem that the Americans have finally woken up to the games being played by the Kremlin and following the meeting Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha posted an image with the caption: “No words are needed to describe the importance of this historic meeting; two leaders working for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica.”

Still receiving huge support

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have regularly acted as intermediaries for the two leaders and are thought to have played a key role in bringing the two of them together against the sombre backdrop of Pope Francis’ funeral.

The sight of the two men walking down the steps of the basilica was certainly encouraging and the Ukrainian was left in no doubt about the continued support for his nation by the applause from the crowds of people in attendance.

Pope’s wise words

In his homily, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re spoke of Pope Francis’s incessant calls for peace. “Build bridges, not walls” he reminded everyone was an exhortation the Pope repeated many times, and maybe the setting was the situation and surroundings which helped clarify a few issues for Mr Trump.

Positive talks all around

Mr Zelenskyy later met with Mr Macron in the garden of Villa Bonaparte, home to the French embassy to the Holy See, before speaking with Sir Keir at Villa Wolkonsky, the British ambassador’s residence; as well as holding separate talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

It is understood that they discussed the implementation of the ReArm Europe plan, strengthening security cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, and collaboration in “defence innovation and technology.”

Back-tracking

Mr Trump had previously said Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal” this after three-hour talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin late last week.

The Kremlin even said ahead of the Pope’s funeral that their President was now ready to enter into direct talks with Ukraine “without preconditions” to Witkoff.

Trump’s claims only made “in jest”

In an interview given by Mr Trump on his 100th day into his second term in office, he was reminded that he said on many occasions leading up to his victory that he would end the war in Ukraine “either within 24 hours of his return to the White House or even sooner than that.” 

He was forced to admit that it was said “figuratively”, and that he had “exaggerated” to make a point and that it was in fact said “in jest”. 

US Vice President JD Vance has been quoted recently as saying that the US would “walk away” from the peace process if both Ukraine and Russia refused to accept the American terms.