Trump seeks Ukraine peace breakthrough but pressures Kyiv more than Moscow - WSJ
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump aims to secure a breakthrough on peace in Ukraine. However, he does not want to pressure Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for an agreement. Instead, he is putting more pressure on Kyiv, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Recent developments include the announcement of a new summit with Putin in Budapest and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to the White House.
A senior Trump administration official said that within the administration, officials emphasized Trump's unwillingness to pressure Putin, who had shown little interest in the concessions needed for a deal, and that the White House was putting more pressure on Kyiv than on Moscow.
Trump is betting that another round of personal diplomacy, through the Budapest meeting, could deliver a breakthrough in the war in Ukraine, which has lasted more than three years after months of unsuccessful negotiations.
Behind the scenes, Trump’s team is working to strengthen the president’s talks with the two leaders using more powerful diplomatic levers than those employed during his August meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Administration officials said the US, aiming to lay the groundwork for an agreement, plans to hold more lower-level meetings with Russia than were held before the Alaska talks.
The US delegation will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The move was welcomed by both Ukrainian and European officials.
Former US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried said the US is not using all the levers available to pressure Russia. He added that there were tools that could increase economic and military pressure on the Russians, but that they were not being used.
