Officials in Ukraine and Europe admit that US President Donald Trump is close to walking away from peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the Financial Times reported on April 28, citing sources.
They say Trump could use the “little progress in the talks” as an excuse to say his “job is done”. Following recent talks with the US, European and Ukrainian officials are convinced that Trump is prepared to use any progress this week to walk away from the talks, even if the progress does not lead to a long-term settlement, four officials told the Financial Times.
One of the sources told the newspaper that US officials “have begun to worry that the talks with Russia will go nowhere” and have begun to put forward proposals for a deal that could be concluded within Trump’s tight deadline. An unnamed European official said Trump was “creating a situation where he’s giving himself an excuse to walk away and leave it up to Ukraine and us [Europe].”
The FT’s sources added that Trump had decided to reconsider his commitment to the peace process because Russian President Vladimir Putin was unwilling to agree to key US and Kyiv demands, such as keeping a significant number of Ukrainian troops after the war.
The Ukrainian government, according to the Financial Times, has begun preparing to go it alone, increasing domestic weapons production and stepping up talks with allies in Europe about future aid. The sources added that it was unclear whether the US would stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine, as it did in March, if Washington decided to pull out of the peace talks.