Senior White House officials believe that some European leaders publicly support President Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine, but at the same time quietly try to undermine the behind-the-scenes progress achieved after the summit in Alaska, reports Axios citing sources.
Two weeks after the summit between Trump and Putin, there is no apparent progress in ending the war. Frustrated Trump aides believe that the blame for this should lie with European allies, not Trump or even Putin. In their opinion, European leaders are forcing Ukraine to seek unrealistic territorial concessions from Russia.
Journalists of the publication learned that the sanctions that the US is urging Europe to impose against Russia include a complete cessation of all oil and gas purchases, as well as the EU imposing additional tariffs on India and China
«Europeans cannot continue this war and maintain unreasonable expectations while expecting America to bear the costs. If Europe wants to escalate this war, it will be their decision. But they will hopelessly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory», — noted one of the Axios sources in the White House
Massive Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, as well as Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, show that a peace agreement will not be reached anytime soon. A senior White House official told Axios that Trump is seriously considering abandoning diplomatic efforts until one or both sides start showing more flexibility.
A senior European official involved in negotiations with the US regarding the war between Ukraine and Russia expressed surprise at the American criticism and also stated that European countries are already working on a new package of sanctions against Russia.
On Friday, a meeting took place in New York between Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and the head of Zelensky's administration Andriy Yermak. They discussed a potential meeting between Zelensky and Putin, and Yermak invited Witkoff to visit Kyiv, but no significant progress was made, a source familiar with the course of the meeting reported.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine