'Stab in the back': Ukraine outraged as Trump embraces Putin's peace plan – FT
Photo: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump, ahead of his meeting with Vladimir Putin, said he would pressure the Russian leader to achieve peace. But in the end, he appears to have sided with the Kremlin, reports the Financial Times.
On Wednesday, Trump and Zelenskyy spoke by phone. During the call, the US leader said he would pressure Putin over the war.
By Saturday, however, after rolling out the red carpet for Putin at the Alaska summit, Trump seemed to side with the Russian leader. He echoed the Kremlin's position and rhetoric.
On his social network, Truth Social, Trump wrote that he wants to "go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up."
He also suggested that the US would not impose new sanctions on Russia for the time being. This signals a retreat from efforts to constrain the Kremlin's military strategy.
In recent weeks, Trump had publicly expressed frustration with Putin over his intransigence and ongoing attacks on civilians. But his shift "alarm and a sense of betrayal in Kyiv on Saturday," a feeling that grew as more details of the meeting emerged.
Specifically, Putin demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a condition for halting the war. According to four sources, he told Trump that he could freeze another section of the front line if his main demands were met.
The reaction in Ukraine was strong:
"This is a stab in the back," a senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times, describing Trump's shift.
Another senior Ukrainian official said, "He just wants a quick deal."
Oleksandr Merezhko, Chair of the Ukrainian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, described the outcome of the Trump-Putin summit for Ukraine in one word: "awful."
"It looks like Trump has aligned with Putin, and they both might be starting to force us to accept a peace treaty, which means, in reality, capitulation of Ukraine," he said.
He added that the summit's goal, as explained to the Ukrainian side by Trump and Secretary of State Rubio, was to demand that Putin immediately cease hostilities. If Putin refused, there were supposed to be serious consequences.
"Putin has rejected that by offering instead a ceasefire as a peace treaty, and we don’t see from Trump any reaction, let alone severe consequences," Merezhko said.
Ukrainian officials also said that Zelenskyy will not agree to give up Donbas. However, he will be open to discussing territorial issues during his meeting with Trump on August 18 and at a future trilateral meeting with the US and Russian leaders.
After the Alaska summit, Trump gave an interview to Fox News. He advised Zelenskyy to make a deal with Russia. He added that this could lead to a rapid trilateral meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, the US, and Russia. Trump emphasized that the next steps depend on Zelenskyy.
