Kathrine Frich
The president admitted he expected a faster resolution.
Global conflicts can stretch on for years, leaving leaders searching for the perfect moment to strike a deal. Sometimes, the most confident predictions of peace reveal a surprising lack of progress behind closed doors.
Hitting a wall
During a recent interview with Fox cited by Onet, US President Donald Trump shared a highly optimistic view on the conflict in Ukraine. He believes the fighting will wrap up before his term ends.
The president admitted he expected a faster resolution to the crisis. He told the network, “I thought it would end sooner. I thought it would be easiest because I got along with both leaders. I thought it would be easiest for me,”
Behind the scenes, Trump claims he is talking directly to the Russian leader. But his own words suggest those calls are falling on deaf ears.
A one-sided conversation
He reportedly delivers a very blunt message to Moscow, yet he has to repeat it. Trump stated, “I keep telling him the same thing. I don’t want to go into detail. But I say, ‘Vladimir, it’s time to stop. It’s time to end this war,'”
Having to constantly repeat a demand implies the person on the other end is ignoring it. Still, when the Fox interviewer pushed for a timeline, the US president did not hesitate.
He feels certain the Russian leader is ready for an agreement. He remarked, “I think he’s ready to make a deal… Soon. It takes two to tango. But I think he’s ready to make a deal,”
These comments line up with his earlier public statements. On July 6, Trump told reporters that Vladimir Putin was feeling pressure to stop the fighting. He later suggested at a NATO summit that results could appear shortly.
Kremlin shuts it down
Not everyone shares this sunny outlook. Insiders speaking to the Financial Times paint a much darker picture of the situation inside Moscow.
According to the British newspaper, Putin refuses to negotiate until his forces capture the entire Donetsk region. A Moscow source told the outlet that Russia simply expects the Americans to hand over Ukraine entirely.
Because of this mindset, the Kremlin sees zero basis for real peace talks right now. The gap between Washington’s optimism and Moscow’s actual demands remains huge.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also threw cold water on an immediate breakthrough. He openly admitted that nobody can predict what it will take for Putin to sit down at the negotiating table.
Sources: Fox, Financial Times, NATO
