Rubio, Kellogg recommend Trump to be tougher on Ukrainian territories concessions - WSJ
Several high-ranking officials of US President Donald Trump, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, are urging him to be more careful in dealing with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Rubio and Kellogg recommend that Trump should be more sceptical about the Russian president's claims that he allegedly wants to conclude a peace deal. However, the US president is closer to the position of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who believes that Putin wants to make peace and offers to give him four regions of Ukraine (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson).
It is noted that Russia has rejected Trump's call for a ceasefire. Putin is trying to drag out the negotiations and achieve better conditions for himself.
"Trump is hoping to stop the war in Ukraine in part to remove a major obstacle to a broader rapprochement with the Kremlin. At times, he has appeared impatient with Putin, but has not followed through on his threat to impose new sanctions on Russian oil exports," the article says.
Former senior State Department official Daniel Fried said that the State Department and the Treasury Department are preparing options for strengthening sanctions against Russia. This is in case "Trump really decides he's had enough of Putin".
