Trump grows skeptical of Putin, considers abandoning Anchorage — Axios
Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump, during the G7 summit, spoke about increasing pressure on Russia and even suggested he could withdraw from the Alaska agreements (referring to Anchorage), Axios reports.
According to two officials who attended the G7 summit last week, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the meeting and even indicated that he might abandon the so-called "Anchorage understandings."
Axios writes that under those agreements, the United States allegedly agreed to Russian demands that, as part of a deal, Russia would control Donbas.
Regarding the G7 meeting, one official noted that there are doubts in Europe about whether the US leader would actually take steps to pressure Russia.
"Trump was skeptical about everything regarding Putin, and talked about pressure on Russia, but other leaders do not believe he will actually do something about it," the official said.
Notably, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G7 summit, but before that, he spoke with Putin, and after the summit, he said that Ukraine is currently "doing pretty well" in the war.
Trump shifts position
Recently, sources cited by the Financial Times said that Trump was "extremely impressed and enthusiastic" about Ukraine's recent long-range strike campaign deep inside Russian territory during the G7 summit. On the day of the summit, Ukraine reportedly struck an oil refinery in Moscow.
At the summit, according to media reports, Trump reportedly agreed to tighten sanctions on Russia's energy sector.
Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron recently revealed an interesting detail. According to him, when Trump came to power, he believed Ukraine would lose the war. However, he later realized that many statements from his circle were untrue.
In addition, a few days later, Macron said that the United States had, for the first time, approved a text in which Washington recognizes itself not as a neutral mediator in the war in Ukraine but as a partner of Kyiv.
