WASHINGTON, August 22. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump believes that Kiev will ultimately be forced to accept a peace deal mostly on Russia's terms, Politico reported, citing a source in the US administration.
According to the newspaper, while Trump acknowledges that negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement continue, the administration considers the process "a grind." A Politico source stressed that Trump and his aides "continue to engage" with Kiev and Moscow to arrange a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky.
According to a senior official, Trump is convinced that Ukraine will have to accept a deal "largely on Russia's terms" in order to end the conflict, the newspaper writes. However, it notes that Trump is "reluctant to increase pressure" on Moscow, as he believes that "he has more leverage over Ukraine and European allies."
According to Politico sources, Trump's post on Truth Social about Ukraine's inability to conduct offensive operations should not be interpreted as a warning to Russian leaders about the US's intention to transfer large quantities of weapons to Ukraine. Trump was thus "explaining away Ukraine’s lack of leverage in negotiations as his predecessor’s fault," referring to Joe Biden.
On Thursday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Ukraine, being exclusively in a defensive position, can not prevail over Russia. The White House host once again accused the Biden administration of being "crooked and grossly incompetent," saying that Washington did not allow Ukraine to "fight back, only defend."
On August 15, a meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump took place at a military base in Alaska. The meeting lasted about three hours: there was a one-on-one discussion in the American leader’s limousine on the way to the main venue for the talks and a narrow "three-on-three" meeting.
The Russian side was also represented by Presidential aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the American side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
In a statement to the press following the talks, Putin said that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was the main topic of the summit.
The Russian leader also called for turning the page in bilateral relations and resuming cooperation, and invited Trump to Moscow. For his part, the US president announced the progress made in the talks, but noted that the parties had not managed to reach an agreement.