President Donald Trump has changed his opinion on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance on Ukraine—again.
Trump admitted the Russian leader is not ready to end his war in Ukraine because he believes he is winning during a call with European leaders on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It is the first time Trump has confirmed Putin is not seeking to end the conflict, despite frequently stating publicly that he believes the Russian despot genuinely wants peace.
European leaders had thought the two-hour call on Monday would be used by Trump to force Putin to negotiate a ceasefire by threatening Moscow with new sanctions.
Trump had said he would use the call to do just that when he spoke to world leaders—including Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen—on a conference call on Sunday.
But by Monday, Trump’s plan of action had shifted again.
In a Truth Social post after the call with Putin, Trump said Russia and Ukraine would proceed with talks hosted by the Vatican without a clear indication whether the negotiations would be aimed at agreeing a ceasefire.
On Tuesday, unnamed sources told Axios that the U.S. would not be involved in the negotiations between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump’s move to abandon efforts to put himself at the centre of any talks “surprised” European leaders, according to reports. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly boasted that if elected he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine within “one day”.
Instead, President Trump has signaled he will continue to distance the U.S. from the conflict.
“This was not my war. This is not a war that would have happened if I were president. Something’s going to happen. And if it doesn’t, I just back away, and they’re going to have to keep going again,” Trump told reporters after his call with Putin.
“This was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation. But because the past administration felt very strongly that we should be involved, we got involved much more than Europe did in terms of the money and all of the things that we gave,” Trump added.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Beast.
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