US President Donald Trump did not join the EU sanctions against russia after a conversation with vladimir putin, focusing on economic cooperation with Moscow. This is reported by The New York Times.
According to the publication, during talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump said that “russia and Ukraine must find their own solutions to the war.” This came just days after he said that only he and putin could make a deal.
Six officials familiar with the discussion confirmed that Trump had abandoned previous threats to join the sanctions. “The testimony sheds light on the change in position of Trump, who has effectively distanced himself from the peace process, although he had previously promised to end the war in 24 hours. Unless he changes his stance, Monday’s events leave putin with exactly what he wanted - an end to American pressure and a split in NATO - between the United States and its European allies, who say they will continue to impose sanctions,” the NYT writes.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said: “The Trump administration’s policy from the very beginning has been to target the victim - Ukraine - rather than the aggressor - russia.”
The White House explained that the new sanctions could hurt business interests. Trump, on the other hand, “seeks to maximize economic opportunities for Americans.”
“European leaders understood from their conversation with Trump that they should not expect the United States to participate in further strengthening the sanctions pressure on the Kremlin. This was a U-turn: Trump had previously threatened russia with sanctions on social media from time to time. However, after a phone call with putin on Monday, those commitments disappeared. The American President has refused, both publicly and in conversations with European leaders, to carry out this threat,” the NYT notes.
Despite campaign promises that he would “end the war in 24 hours,” Trump later acknowledged that the peace process had proven more difficult. In a post on Monday, he openly stated his intention to distance himself from the negotiations:
“The terms of ending the war must be negotiated between the two sides, as they should be, because only they know the details,” Trump wrote.
He then hinted at his priority - business with russia: “russia has a huge opportunity to create a huge number of jobs and wealth. Its potential is unlimited.”
As the NYT notes, Trump is eager to give American businesses access to russia’s energy sector and the rare earth metals market.
“Putin seems to be well aware of Trump’s commercial interests, so he focused most of their conversations on possible economic relations. As a result, Europe is moving towards new sanctions, while the United States, on the contrary, is ready to move in the opposite direction, seeking to bypass Ukraine and deepen cooperation with russia. This is the split within NATO that putin has tried to create and exploit for two decades,” the publication concludes.
One European official who participated in the negotiations noted that Trump never seriously considered sanctions pressure as a tool: “His threats were, according to the official, mostly staged.”
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.