President Donald Trump hopes that separate phone discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday will result in progress towards a cease-fire in the Ukraine conflict.
In a social media message over the weekend, Trump stressed his desire for a “productive day” Monday—as well as a truce. His efforts will include calls to NATO leaders.
Trump has failed to conclude a war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, making these discussions a major test of his image as a dealmaker after claiming he would resolve the conflict soon he returned to the White House, if not before he assumed office.
Trump is banking on the notion that his force of personality and personal connection to Putin will be sufficient to resolve any disagreement on a ceasefire.
“His sensibilities are that he’s got to get on the phone with President Putin, and that is going to clear up some of the logjam and get us to the place that we need to get to,” Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special adviser, said. “I think it’s going to be a very successful call.”
Still, there are concerns that Trump’s close ties to Putin could harm Ukraine in any accords negotiated by the US government.
Bridget Brink said she resigned last month as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine “because the policy since the beginning of the administration was to put pressure on the victim Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia.”
Brink said the sign that she needed to depart was an Oval Office meeting in February where Trump and his team openly berated Zelenskyy for not being sufficiently deferential to them.
“I believe that peace at any price is not peace at all,” Brink said. “It’s appeasement and as we know from history, appeasement only leads to more war.”
Trump’s frustration about the war had been building before his post Saturday on Truth Social about the coming calls, which he said would begin first with Putin at 10 a.m. Monday.
