Europe and Ukraine fear that Trump is looking for pretext to walk away from peace talks – FT
European and Ukrainian officials fear Donald Trump is on the brink of walking away from peace negotiations with Kyiv and Moscow, potentially using minor progress in talks as an "excuse" to say his job is done.
This is stated in the material of the Financial Times, according to Censor.NET.
The US president was elected on a promise to end the war in "24 hours", but his overtures to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and attempts to strong-arm the Ukrainian leadership have failed to win backing for his initial proposal of a 30-day ceasefire, let alone a lasting truce.
According to four FT sources, European and Ukrainian officials are convinced Trump is ready to seize any kind of "breakthrough" in Ukraine peace talks this week, which marks his first 100 days in office.
One European official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was "setting up a situation where he gives himself excuses to walk away and leave it to Ukraine and us (Europe - ed.) to fix."
Putin’s unwillingness to agree to key US and Ukrainian demands such as maintaining a postwar Ukrainian military force, and the complexity of the conflict has made Trump re-evaluate his commitment to a peace deal, they added.
Sources interviewed by the FT agree that the "peace plan" proposed by the U.S. administration stems from a desire to fit within Trump’s timeline.
According to one of the newspaper's sources, "There are people who think the Russians might go along" with Trump’s proposal, the person said, adding that the issue was that there was "nothing in place to actually make this work".
Some Ukrainian officials also told the FT that they fear the U.S. president may walk away from "peace talks". Against this backdrop, Kyiv has quietly increased domestic arms production and intensified talks with European allies regarding future assistance.
