Trump sees Putin as bigger threat to peace than Zelenskyy - Telegraph
US President Donald Trump is becoming increasingly disappointed with Vladimir Putin and sees him as a greater obstacle to peace in Ukraine than Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by The Telegraph with reference to sources in the White House.
In particular, they claim that Trump has run out of "goodies" for Moscow. The US special operation to seize a Russian tanker and support for a new package of sanctions are direct signals to Putin.
A source close to the US president's inner circle said: "He works on the principle of the carrot and the stick. And I think he's run out of carrots."
Another interlocutor said that Trump finds the Russians' "two steps forward, one step back" strategy in negotiations increasingly "tiresome."
Trump's position on Putin is becoming closer to that of Europe
Previously, Trump spoke warmly of Putin and repeatedly stated that Ukraine was to blame for the war.
However, according to several current and former officials in Washington, the Trump administration's position is increasingly aligning with the European view of the conflict, that Putin is playing a game with no end in sight.
Escalation on the eve of the meeting with Zelenskyy
The day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago at the end of last year, Russia launched ballistic missiles and drones at Kyiv.
The British official said that because of this, the Trump administration has become closer to the European view of the conflict than ever before: "Putin's constant cruelty, insidious behavior, and games do not go unnoticed by the administration."
