Axios reports that US President Donald Trump is contemplating putting aside efforts to end the war in Ukraine for the time being, while his circle blames Europe for Ukraine’s unwillingness to make greater concessions for a peace deal.

Source: Axios citing its sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: A senior White House official speaking anonymously said that the American president is seriously considering putting his diplomatic efforts regarding the Russia-Ukraine war on hold "until one or both parties begin to show more flexibility".

"We are going to sit back and watch. Let them fight it out for a while and see what happens," he commented.

Overall, the report states that the White House is frustrated by the lack of progress following Trump’s meeting with the Russian leader in Alaska, and blames Europe for Ukraine’s reluctance to make further concessions to end the war.

Two weeks after Trump’s summit with the Russian leader in Alaska, no tangible progress in peace efforts on Ukraine has been achieved, and Trump’s aides believe that the fault lies not with the American president or Moscow.

Axios writes that senior White House officials believe that some European leaders only pay lip service to supporting Trump’s peace initiatives, while in reality attempting to undermine the progress made after the Alaska meeting.

In Trump’s circle, there is a conviction that it is precisely European leaders who are pushing Ukraine towards intransigence on territorial issues and urging Zelenskyy to wait for a better deal, and that without their involvement, Kyiv’s position would be different.

"The Europeans don't get to prolong this war and backdoor unreasonable expectations, while also expecting America to bear the cost," said a senior White House official in an anonymous comment.

He added that "if Europe wants to escalate this war, that will be up to them".

One of the sources remarked that "some of the Europeans continue to operate in a fairy-tale land that ignores the fact it takes two to tango".

White House sources consider UK’s and France’s stance to be more or less constructive, but complain that other major European states want the US to bear the full burden of the war while being unwilling to take active part themselves.

A European official involved in negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine war expressed surprise at reports of Washington’s accusations that European capitals are supposedly playing a double game with Trump, stressing that this is not in fact the case.

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