The rift between Washington and Kyiv over a possible ceasefire within the struggle with Russia deepened on Monday as Donald Trump expressed new outrage at Volodymyr Zelenskyy for saying that the tip of the struggle could possibly be “very, very far away”.
In a publish to social media on Monday, Trump posted a hyperlink to an Related Press story outlining Zelenskyy’s feedback and mentioned: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US,” Trump continued.
“Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia,” he mentioned. “What are they thinking?”
The change adopted a French proposal for a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine, as European efforts to bolster assist for Kyiv speed up within the face of unsure US backing.
The French overseas minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, mentioned on Monday: “Such a truce – on air, sea and energy infrastructure – would allow us to determine whether Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith” and gauge his perspective to “real peace negotiations”.
A day after European leaders rallied round Ukraine at a summit in London, Barrot added: “Never has the risk of a war in Europe, in the EU, been so high … The threat keeps getting closer to us, the frontline keeps getting closer to us.”
Zelenskyy had mentioned that he believed a peace with Russia was far off in an interview through which he additionally expressed optimism about Ukraine’s partnership with the US, saying: “I think our relationship [with the US] will continue, because it’s more than an occasional relationship.”
These remarks adopted a blow-up within the Oval Workplace the place Trump accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with” a 3rd world struggle and informed the Ukrainian president to return again “when he is ready for peace”.
Fox Information on Monday reported {that a} minerals deal between Ukraine and america that Trump claimed would offer some safety ensures to Kyiv wouldn’t be signed “until Zelenskyy goes in front of cameras and makes an explicit public apology for the way he behaved in the Oval Office with that meeting”.
Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron have sought to behave as intermediaries between Zelenskyy and the White Home as relations between Kyiv and the White Home look like on the breaking level.
Trump’s remarks got here as he deliberate to convene high White Home officers on Monday to debate subsequent steps, which included reviewing the European proposal but in addition probably contemplating a cutoff in help to Ukraine, based on reviews within the New York Occasions and different US media. These set to affix the briefing embrace the nationwide safety adviser, Michael Waltz, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth.
Waltz briefly took questions on Ukraine whereas strolling in the direction of the West Wing. He declined to say whether or not the US would settle for the European proposal however welcomed the efforts by Macron and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer. “We welcome the Europeans taking a lead in European security,” Waltz mentioned. “I mean that’s been an underpinning. They have to invest in the capability to do that. They’re certainly showing a will.”
However Trump and a few of his closest allies have despatched blended indicators. In one other publish on Monday, Trump attacked European allies for persevering with to buy power from Russia, writing on X that that they had “spent more money buying Russian Oil and Gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine —BY FAR!”
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Trump allies continued to pile strain on Zelenskyy over the weekend, with a number of suggesting the Ukrainian president ought to contemplate resigning with a view to present a approach ahead for negotiations. Rubio and Waltz had been thought-about to be probably the most hawkish of Trump’s cupboard on Russia, however have fallen in keeping with his and JD Vance’s criticisms of Ukraine as tensions have escalated.
Chatting with Fox on Monday morning, Waltz didn’t say Zelenskyy ought to resign, however when requested whether or not Zelenskyy was match to steer Ukraine mentioned: “What happened Friday really put that up in the air.” Earlier, he informed CNN: “We need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end this war … If it becomes apparent that President Zelensky’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in his country, then I think we have a real issue on our hands.”
Germany has taken the lead in questioning the US management below the brand new Trump administration. Friedrich Merz, who’s prone to be Germany’s subsequent chancellor, prompt the Oval Workplace spat was a lure set upfront for the Ukrainian chief. “It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelenskyy, but obviously a manufactured escalation,” Merz mentioned.
Merz had earlier mentioned that it appeared the Trump administration was detached to the destiny of Europe. “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” he mentioned in remarks final week as tensions rose between the US and Europe over a possible ceasefire negotiation with Russia.
France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, additionally criticised Trump’s behaviour, telling parliament: “In the Oval Office … a staggering scene unfurled before the lenses of the entire world, marked by brutality, a desire to humiliate, with the goal of making Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy fold through threats. President Zelenskyy did not fold and I think we can show him our appreciation.”
A senior European official who requested to stay nameless mentioned Trump now had to decide on whether or not he needed to name himself “a leader of the free world, or leader of an extortion gang. The latter is not interesting for Europe.”
Starmer, who has sought to behave as a bridge between Europe and the US, mentioned on Monday that Nato allies “must keep the military aid to Ukraine flowing – keep increasing the economic pressure on Russia”.
Concerning a possible European safety drive in Ukraine to keep up a possible ceasefire, he mentioned that he was persevering with the push the Trump White Home to supply an actual safety assure that might act as a “backstop” towards a possible Russian escalation.
“We have to avoid the mistakes of the past, which is why a security guarantee is so important – a guarantee that we should lead, but [which] needs US backing if it’s to act as a proper guarantee,” he mentioned.
