Earlier in a phone call, Putin promised Trump that Russia is “ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty”.
US President Donald Trump has reportedly told European leaders in a private conversation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not in favour of ending the war in Ukraine, as he believes that Moscow has an upper hand and is currently winning. Notably, while Trump made it clear in the private telephonic conversation that Putin does not want a ceasefire, he has publicly maintained that the Russian President wants ‘peace’.
According to a report by the Washington Post, Trump’s acknowledgement came during a phone call on Monday with several European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Moreover, Kyiv’s European allies slapped new sanctions on Tuesday on Moscow, a day after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.
“We have made clear again and again that we simply expect one thing from Russia now, namely, a ceasefire, unconditional and immediate,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in announcing the sanctions.
“We welcome the fact that Ukraine is still prepared to do this. We note with disappointment that Russia has not yet taken this decisive step, and we will have to react to this.”
Diplomatic efforts have seen little progress in halting the fighting, including Monday’s phone call between Trump and Putin and Friday’s direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul.
In the phone call, Putin promised Trump that Russia is “ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty”.
The new European Union sanctions targeted almost 200 ships from Russia’s “shadow fleet” illicitly transporting oil to skirt Western restrictions. It also imposed asset freezes and travel bans on several officials as well as on a number of Russian companies.
(With inputs from AP)
