Senior officials in the administration of the US President Donald Trump have recently become frustrated with Russia — the Kremlin has not shown any willingness to end the war in Ukraine. The American plan to achieve a ceasefire by April or May is failing.
Reuters reports this, citing sources.
In meetings at the White House and State Department, officials have discussed how to pressure Putin, economically or diplomatically, to force him to sign a peace deal with Ukraine. Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he trusts Putin and believes in his desire for peace, but his latest statements indicate that the American president is already doubting the Kremlinʼs "sincerity".
The White House is considering imposing additional tariffs and sanctions against Russia. Donald Trump has said that Washington could impose tariffs of 25-50% on Russian oil.
"President Trump has made it clear that he will consider imposing secondary sanctions on all Russian oil if Moscow is not serious about a peaceful resolution to the conflict," reiterated the US National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt.
President Donald Trump and his advisers had initially planned to achieve a full ceasefire by April or May, followed by a long-term peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Those plans now appear unrealistic. And such a scenario contradicts promises by Trump, who positions himself as a master of deals, to end the war more quickly once he takes office.
Although American officials have often criticized Ukraine for the negotiation process and for Kyivʼs failure to sign the minerals agreement, their criticism is now increasingly directed at Moscow.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Baltic foreign ministers last week that peace in Ukraine is not yet guaranteed and an agreement is far from being signed.
European and American intelligence agencies have long been telling politicians that Putin is unlikely to agree to peace talks as long as he believes he has a military advantage.
Instead, the new US administration initially chose a strategy of approaching Moscow and increasing pressure on Kyiv. However, the Kremlin did not make concessions as a result, but instead began to put forward new and new conditions.
What preceded
In March, a round of talks between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations took place. As a result, Ukraine agreed to an immediate temporary ceasefire — in exchange, Washington decided to resume aid and intelligence sharing. Zelensky said that a 30-day ceasefire would apply to the entire front line if Russia agreed to it. It did not.
Later, Trump spoke with Putin, in particular, they discussed the 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States. Putin demanded that Ukraine stop the mobilization and rearmament of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for this period. After the conversation, the parties reported that Putin allegedly supported the idea of a mutual refusal of the Russian Federation and Ukraine from attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.
The next day, Trump spoke with Zelensky. The US president shared with the Ukrainian leader the details of his conversation with Putin. Zelensky said he was ready to support an end to strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Russia continues its massive attacks on Ukraine and its civilian and energy infrastructure.
- Earlier, in an interview with NBC News, Donald Trump said that he was "very angry" and "furious" with Putin when he questioned the authority of Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump believes that such statements "do not lead in the right direction".
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