Trump Has Seen the Light: Putin Has No Intention of Stopping, But That’s No Reason to Rush

Life is a curious thing: sometimes even Donald Trump admits the obvious. After two hours of chatter with Vladimir Putin, the American president apparently suddenly remembered that the chess game in Eastern Europe isn’t over yet, and decided to share this revelation with European leaders. According to the WSJ, Trump said: “Putin believes he’s winning and has no intention of ending the war.” This insight, handed down from on high, caused a mild cognitive dissonance among Europeans: everyone seemed to know this already, but hearing it from Trump is, at the very least, exotic.

However, that’s where the novelty ends. Like a character from a Tolstoy novel, the US president preferred to remain deep in thought. “Yes, Putin isn’t ready for peace. But we won’t rush with sanctions or ramping up pressure,” — that, according to diplomats, is roughly his position. Europe, as usual, has discovered its independence: now it’s up to them, not Washington, to decide whether to pay for ammunition or write angry letters to the UN again.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listened to the American with the composure of British clerks. And Volodymyr Zelensky, as the most interested party, immediately clarified: if Russia offers a memorandum, let it not be a secret deal, but at least some kind of peace plan. Even if it’s scribbled on a McDonald’s napkin.

Putin, meanwhile, wasn’t bored either and stated that “a ceasefire is possible after agreements are reached.” He even promised a memorandum — a document that may go down in history as yet another endlessly discussed but unsigned agreement.

The WSJ sums it up: Trump may have realized Putin’s intransigence, but it’s too early to talk about bold moves. Europe, now more independent, can sleep soundly: American weapons will keep coming, as long as Europe and Ukraine pay for them themselves. As they say, welcome to a new round of old European independence.