European leaders did not expect this development

Journalists note that after his conversation with Putin, Trump held a group conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Finland, and the European Commission.

The latter cherished the hope that the Russian dictator would eventually agree to a ceasefire, or that the US would impose sanctions for refusing to do so.

Despite these expectations, Trump reported that Putin had once again only verbally agreed to further negotiations, in which the United States would not even participate.

The biggest blow to European leaders was that the US president actually refused to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.

Trump gave the impression that he was getting close to walking away from this issue altogether (new sanctions — ed.). Some leaders who participated in the conversation looked surprised or they were shocked.