Trump is singing a different tune about ‘buddy’ Putin in private

Donald Trump privately told European leaders on Monday that his so-called “buddy” Vladimir Putin still believes he’s winning the war in Ukraine and isn’t ready to stop. That’s a sharp contrast from Trump’s usual public line, where he’s painted Putin as a leader who actually wants peace.

This new take came during a private call that included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Until now, Trump has avoided publicly stating that Putin has no interest in ending the war. That changed on this call. Despite this private acknowledgment, Trump hasn’t taken the action that Zelensky and the Europeans have repeatedly pushed for, he still hasn’t moved to put pressure on Russia with new sanctions.

Trump changes his position before and after Putin call

A day before that call, on Sunday, Trump spoke with Macron, Merz, Meloni, and new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He told them he might consider imposing sanctions if Putin rejected a cease-fire. 

Instead of sanctions, Trump said he wanted to speed up low-level talks between Ukraine and Russia, and have them take place at the Vatican. Zelensky was part of Monday’s call. European leaders had spent ten days building pressure on Trump, hoping he would use America’s influence to get Putin to stop.

That effort didn’t work. Trump didn’t commit to anything serious. He just kept repeating that the war wasn’t his fight. “This isn’t my war,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “We got ourselves entangled in something we shouldn’t have been involved in.”

Some of the Europeans on the call wanted any talks at the Vatican to include an unconditional cease-fire. Trump didn’t like that. He claimed he never used the word “unconditional,” even though his May 8 post on Truth Social clearly included it when he called for a 30-day cease-fire. Eventually, the Europeans gave up on using that word.

Europeans test Trump after Merz takes power

The diplomatic push got more aggressive when Friedrich Merz became chancellor earlier in May. Unlike former chancellor Olaf Scholz, Merz is more willing to take on Putin. His government even changed Germany’s constitution to allow for more military spending.

On May 10, Merz, Macron, Starmer, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made a surprise visit to Zelensky in Kyiv. During the visit, they called Trump directly using Macron’s phone and told him Ukraine was on board with the 30-day cease-fire. They warned Putin that Europe would push fresh sanctions if he didn’t go along.

Putin responded to that warning by offering direct talks with Ukraine for the first time in three years. Trump jumped at that and even suggested he might travel to Turkey to join the talks.

A meeting happened in Istanbul, but Putin didn’t show up. He sent mid-level negotiators instead, who repeated Russia’s usual demands, which Ukraine had already rejected.

After that no-show, the European leaders came back to Trump again. They told him Putin’s behavior proved that stronger action was needed. They passed some minor sanctions, but bigger ones are still in the works.

Trump said he had scheduled a new call with Putin because he believed that a peace deal couldn’t happen without a conversation between the two leaders.

During the Sunday call with European leaders (before speaking with Putin) Trump said the US could team up with Europe on sanctioning Russian oil and banks. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said Wednesday that he had already secured 81 co-sponsors for a bill that would hit Russia hard with energy and financial sanctions.

That Sunday call also had moments of typical Trump. He praised Merz for his English. “I love it even more with your German accent,” Trump told him. But he also veered into attacking Europe’s migration policies, saying their countries were at the “brink of collapse.” Macron, who has known Trump longer than anyone else on the call, asked him to stop. “You cannot insult our nations, Donald,” he said.

Even with that awkward moment, some on the call thought Trump might support new sanctions if Putin refused peace. But those hopes were short-lived. The Vatican talks are now scheduled for mid-June.

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