White House admits that Trump will not secure ceasefire by Easter – The Telegraph

The administration of US President Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with the kremlin's delaying tactics and is preparing to put pressure on moscow and Kyiv to force them to agree on a settlement.

The Telegraph reported this, citing sources.

Thus, at the beginning of his presidency, Trump set the goal of achieving a full ceasefire by April or May, and then establishing a lasting peace.

Senior Trump officials have reported that such an agreement will not be reached in the coming months, which increases the likelihood that russia's full-scale war against Ukraine will be delayed.

It is alleged that US officials have been complaining in private conversations for several weeks about the way Ukraine is negotiating and what they see as resistance to a deal with the US on mineral extraction and moving peace talks forward.

Meanwhile, in a series of calls and meetings over the weekend, White House and State Department officials acknowledged that putin was actively resisting US efforts to reach a long-term deal and discussed what economic and diplomatic sanctions they could impose, the sources said.

The failure to end the war would be a significant blow to Trump, who repeatedly promised during his presidential campaign to end the war within 24 hours.

Trump has said for weeks that he trusts the russian president and believes he wants peace, but in recent days the White House has grown wary of putin's intentions, the sources added.

In evidence that putin may be preparing for another war, he ordered the largest military draft in 14 years on Monday, calling for 160,000 men to be drafted into the russian army by mid-July.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Zelenskyy stressed that the russians are disregarding the diplomatic efforts of their partners and continue to purposefully attack energy facilities.

At the same time, on March 11, Ukraine agreed to accept the US proposal to immediately introduce a temporary, 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual consent of the parties and upon acceptance and implementation by the russian side.

Meanwhile, russian dictator vladimir putin announced the most massive draft in the last 14 years. The Center for Countering Disinformation said that for the kremlin this is one of the methods of compensating for losses on the front, and is also evidence of russia's desire to continue the war, despite statements about peace.