US President Donald Trump, during a phone call with European leaders on Monday 19 May, has acknowledged that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not ready to end the war in Ukraine, as he believes he is winning.

Source:The Wall Street Journal, citing three people familiar with the details of the conversation

Quote: "The acknowledgment was what European leaders had long believed about Putin – but it was the first time they were hearing it from Trump. It also ran counter to what Trump has often said publicly, that he believes Putin genuinely wants peace."

Details: Despite this, Trump did not agree to the demands of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders to increase pressure on Russia.

Ahead of a two-hour conversation with Putin on Sunday 18 May, Trump held a call with European leaders during which he said he might impose sanctions if Russia refused a ceasefire.

However, he had again changed his position by Monday and was no longer prepared to take such action.

"This isn't my war. We got ourselves entangled in something we shouldn't have been involved in," Trump told journalists after speaking with Putin.

Quote:"While the effort ultimately didn’t succeed in getting Trump to do that through additional sanctions, Europeans saw some upside to the outcome. The process had helped clarify for everyone, including Trump, where Putin stood: He is unwilling to halt the war at this stage. And for the Europeans, it helped underscore that it was now largely up to them to support Ukraine. Europeans don't believe the Trump administration will stop US weapons exports as long as Europe or Ukraine pays for them."

Details: Trump announced during a separate Sunday call with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he would send Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg to upcoming talks at the Vatican. Trump raised the possibility of imposing sanctions on Russia's energy and financial sectors in the same Sunday call.

However, the following day he showed less enthusiasm for US involvement in the process.

European leaders insisted during the conversation that the outcome of any talks at the Vatican must be an unconditional ceasefire. But Trump again held back, stating that he did not like the word "unconditional". He noted that he had never used the term, although in fact he did use it in a post on his Truth Social on 8 May, when he called for a 30-day ceasefire.

Background: 

• Trump refused to join the European Union's sanctions pressure on Russia after a conversation with Putin. Instead, he expressed an intention to focus on economic cooperation with Moscow, which could lead to a rift within NATO – something Putin has been seeking to create for more than two decades.
• Rubio declined to label Putin a war criminal during a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives.
• Politico reported that Trump's administration had opposed the inclusion of a pledge of continued support for Kyiv and a reference to the illegality of Russia's war against Ukraine in an upcoming G7 statement.
• Merz said that he sees no signs of a quick end to Russia's war against Ukraine.

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