U.S. President Donald Trump has privately told European leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ready to end the war in Ukraine because he believes he is winning, according to multiple media reports and European officials familiar with recent discussions.
The comments were made during a phone call on Monday that included leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The call followed a two-hour conversation between Trump and Putin.
Trump reportedly rejected proposals for an 'unconditional' ceasefire in Ukraine and indicated reluctance to impose new sanctions on Russia, reversing his earlier stance in which he had threatened sanctions if Putin refused a ceasefire. He also suggested that Russia and Ukraine should find their own solution to the conflict, describing the war as 'not my war' and signaling a reduced U.S. role in brokering peace.
Trump informed European leaders of plans to send Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Keith Kellogg to upcoming talks at the Vatican, expected to take place in mid-June. Some European leaders had insisted the outcome of the Vatican discussions should be an unconditional ceasefire, but Trump objected to the term.
The White House, through press secretary Karoline Leavitt, disputed some accounts, stating that Trump believes Putin wants peace and that the war should end, but confirmed that Trump thinks Putin is currently winning the war.
The diplomatic discussions come amid ongoing Russian advances in Ukraine and continued demands from Kyiv and European capitals for greater pressure on Moscow. European leaders have expressed concern that the U.S. may scale back its involvement in peace negotiations and military support for Ukraine.
Putin has no intention of ending his war. He believes he is on an historic mission to extinguish Ukrainian independence and revive the Russian empire. This leaves no room for compromise. Peace will only come when Ukraine is too strong to be subjugated
The mood of European leaders who heard Trump's description of his two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin on Monday - a conversation that did nothing to advance the ceasefire - was said to range from subdued to apoplectic, the Guardian reports
