No, Trump. ‘Crazy’ Putin hasn’t changed. The question is, have you?
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No, Trump. ‘Crazy’ Putin hasn’t changed. The question is, have you?
US President Donald Trump says he has a “very good relationship” with Vladimir Putin. But the Kremlin leader seems pretty much unchanged, despite the urgings of the White House. So far, there has been no real sign that Trump is prepared to use the substantial economic leverage at his disposal to force the Kremlin to rethink its hardline stance. The latest upsurge in violence in Ukraine may further convince an already frustrated US president that he is simply unable to bring the warring parties together any time soon. But, amid all his anger and bluster about Putin, Trump may simply choose to walk away from the Ukraine crisis in the near future, writes John Defterios, a senior analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him,” observed US President Donald Trump, reacting to the intensive Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine over the weekend.
In fact, the Kremlin leader seems pretty much unchanged, despite the urgings of the White House, merely continuing his policy of grinding war in Ukraine, in which aerial assaults have become an all-too-regular feature.
The real question is whether Trump has changed, or at least if his attitude toward Putin has started to shift amid what looks like an increasingly futile US effort to forge peace in Ukraine, something Trump bragged he could do – let’s not forget – in short order.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, certainly thinks a mental corner has been turned, telling reporters in Vietnam that Trump’s latest rebuke of his Russian counterpart as “absolutely CRAZY” means the US president “realizes” that Putin has “lied” on the war in Ukraine, adding that he hopes Trump’s words will “translate into action.”
But the record suggests otherwise.
This is the sixth time this term that Trump, who consistently says he has a strong relationship with Putin, has publicly expressed impatience or downright annoyance with the Kremlin boss.
Back in March, Trump revealed he was “pissed off” with Putin for refusing to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
In April, Trump demanded “Vladimir STOP,” after a Russian missile strike on Kyiv left a dozen people dead.
“Maybe he doesn’t really want to stop the war and is just tapping me along,” Trump mused later.
The Trump scoldings have been routinely accompanied by expressions of personal disappointment and threats of possible retaliation, like secondary tariffs on “all oil coming out of Russia,” or unidentified “further sanctions.”
Asked again, after the latest rebuke of Putin, whether he would now consider putting more sanctions on Russia, Trump replied: “Absolutely.”
So far, there has been no real sign that Trump is prepared to use the substantial economic leverage at his disposal to force the Kremlin to rethink its hardline stance.
Not so in the US Senate, where a cross-party bill has been introduced to make it more difficult for Russia to fund its war.
The bill, now backed by 81 senators, not only proposes more direct sanctions on Russia, but also secondary sanctions, such as a massive 500% tariff on countries that buy Russian energy.
But the measures, which would seriously impact an already fragile and oil-dependent Russian economy, are super-controversial as they would also punish China, India and the European Union, which are all still major Russian energy consumers.
It is, of course, possible that Trump could now throw his weight behind the bill, or perhaps a watered-down version of it. But that would be a huge change in direction, given his consistent reluctance to confront and punish the Kremlin so far.
More likely, the latest upsurge in violence in Ukraine may further convince an already frustrated US president that he is simply unable to bring the warring parties together any time soon.
And, amid all his anger and bluster about Putin, Trump may simply choose to walk away.
US and other allies of Ukraine pile pressure on Putin, threatening fresh sanctions if he refuses 30-day truce
Western allies including the US are threatening to slap Russia with more sanctions if Moscow fails to sign up to the 30-day truce in Ukraine proposed by the United States. US President Donald Trump on Thursday added the threat of additional sanctions from the US and “its partners” to his latest call for an “unconditional ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine. Leaders of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” – a group of Western nations that have pledged to help defend Ukraine against Russia – will meet in Kyiv on Saturday. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the new Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, are set to meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday morning. The countries will “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow accepts a ceasefire, Starmer’S office said in a statement late on Friday. The latest move by Trump marks another shift in US stance, which had at times been sympathetic to Kremlin.
Ukraine’s Western allies including the US are threatening to slap Russia with more sanctions if Moscow fails to sign up to the 30-day truce in Ukraine proposed by the United States.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday added the threat of additional sanctions from the US and “its partners” to his latest call for an “unconditional ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine that Moscow has repeatedly rejected.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the new Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, are set to meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday morning, Starmer’s office said in a statement late on Friday, adding that the countries will “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow accepts a ceasefire.
Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine one of his priorities and he has invested much effort into trying to get Russian President Vladimir Putin on board. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff went to Russia four times to meet with Putin and there have been several other high-level meetings between US and Russian officials since Trump returned to the White House in January.
But despite offering some previously unthinkable concessions to Russia, the Trump administration has not been able to get Russia to agree to the limited ceasefire proposal, intended as opening a path towards a permanent truce.
Now it seems that Trump is rapidly losing his patience with Putin over this stalling. And the latest move by Trump marks another shift in US stance on the conflict, which had at times been sympathetic to Kremlin.
Just days ago, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened the US would walk away from the talks if there is no progress. Instead, the US is now leading Ukraine’s other Western allies in trying to put more pressure on Russia.
European leaders back Trump’s proposal
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted on Friday that an announcement outlining details of the ceasefire proposal is expected as early as Saturday.
He said that leaders of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” – a group of Western nations that have pledged to help defend Ukraine against Russia – will meet in Kyiv on Saturday.
Trump spoke to Zelensky and a number of European leaders about the ceasefire proposal and sanctions on Thursday.
The French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke with Trump “several times” on Thursday, “commending his strong call for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.”
“We must all work towards this goal without delay, false pretenses, or dilatory tactics. Ukraine has already expressed its support for such a ceasefire nearly two months ago. I now expect Russia to do the same,” Macron said on X.
Macron added that if Russia fails to accept the proposal, France was “ready to respond firmly, together with all Europeans and in close coordination with the United States.”
Speaking on Friday alongside the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Macron confirmed there would be “a meeting, partly virtual and partly in-person” in Kyiv on Saturday.
Burnt-out cars stand near a destroyed apartment building after a Russian attack in Dobropillia, eastern Ukraine. Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
Trump also spoke to the leaders of 10 countries northern European countries that form the security alliance known as the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) on Thursday. The leaders of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Finland called both Trump and Zelensky during their dinner at a summit in Oslo, according to statements from the governments of several of the countries represented at the meeting.
“Our message to both presidents was that we are committed to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. We also conveyed our full support for the proposal for a 30 days ceasefire and continued European and US commitment to the peace process,” Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement on X.
On Friday, just as Putin hosted number of Kremlin-friendly world leaders, including the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at a pompous military parade in Moscow, Ukraine’s European allies showed their support for Kyiv by sending top level delegations to a meeting in Ukraine.
Dozens of foreign delegations were in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Friday to endorse the ceasefire proposal and the establishment of a special tribunal to investigate crimes of aggression against Ukraine.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Germany’s new Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and dozens of top diplomats from other European countries were among those attending.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/26/europe/analysis-crazy-putin-trump-ukraine-latam-intl