Despite the recent change in US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric regarding Putin and the Russian Federation, skepticism prevails in the countries of the European Union. As reported Financial Times, European political circles do not believe that the softening of Trump’s public statements is evidence of a real transition of the US administration to a more pro-Ukrainian line.
Two high-ranking European officials, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, noted that while Trump’s new statements have given rise to some hope, there are still no real actions that would confirm a shift toward Kyiv. According to them, Ukraine’s allies in the West still believe that Trump views Putin as the main interlocutor in achieving any peace, and Volodymyr Zelenskyi as an obstacle to this.
One of the interlocutors noted:
“There is a little overexcitement due to the change in tone. But we do not see that this will lead to any serious actions.”
At the same time, according to the FT, the President of Ukraine recently managed to establish personal communication with Donald Trump. Sources of the publication report that after a conflict between them during a meeting in the Oval Office, the heads of France and Great Britain — Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer — gave Zelensky advice to change the tone in communication with the American leader. He was suggested to show more gratitude and openly thank the US for the support already provided.
However, even against this background, the Trump administration remains persistently skeptical about continued aid to Ukraine. As noted by the Financial Times, some officials are in favor of focusing on the Indo-Pacific region, while others adhere to the principled position of non-interference in conflicts outside the US.
It is worth noting that Trump recently publicly questioned Putin’s sincerity in seeking peace for the first time, and also said that the Russian leader “talks a lot of nonsense.” In addition, the American president promised to make an important statement about Russia on Monday.
Another sign of a potential shift was the participation of US representatives in the meeting of the so-called “coalition of the determined” – a group of European states that are discussing the possibility of creating a contingent of Western military forces on the territory of Ukraine as a precautionary factor in case of a new offensive by the Russian Federation after the end of the active phase of hostilities.
