Summary
Zelenskyy was not invited. The war is now in its fifth year, having begun with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Source: Wall …
President Donald Trump escalated his public break with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, declaring that Ukraine has "given nothing to us" in return for American support and suggesting it may be time for Zelenskyy to hand negotiations with Russia to someone else.
"We've given a lot to Ukraine. They've given nothing to us. Remember that," Trump told reporters. "Maybe it's time for Zelensky to get somebody else to negotiate." In the same remarks, he praised Moscow's conduct: "Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much."
The comments cap weeks in which the White House has moved rapidly to rehabilitate Russian President Vladimir Putin — a shift the New York Times described as remarkable for its speed and for Trump's characterization of Zelenskyy as the primary obstacle to peace. On Friday, Trump halted implementation of sanctions due to be imposed on Russia under a bipartisan bill he himself signed last month, drawing criticism from lawmakers including some Republican allies. Earlier this month he announced a diesel-supply deal with Russia, aimed at bringing down fuel prices at home, and he has pressured Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries.
Trump defended the approach in a social-media post over the weekend, saying he is "negotiating peace" and does not want to do anything that will "drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table." His stated goal, he said, is to stop the killing in a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Kyiv has pushed back sharply. Zelenskyy told Bloomberg that "steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate — that's how it looks." Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian refineries after a brief suspension, and Ukrainian officials have alleged that the United States slowed its Starshield military satellite links, with lethal consequences on the battlefield. The Washington Post has also reported that the administration has not approved a transfer of interceptor missiles Ukraine needs to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks.
Diplomacy continues on a separate track. Zelenskyy travels to Oslo on Tuesday to meet Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, alongside U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff, attending in person, and Jared Kushner, participating virtually. Witkoff is then expected at the Kremlin. Putin, meanwhile, has proposed meeting Trump while the president is in China for a gathering of Asian leaders; Zelenskyy was not invited.
The war is now in its fifth year, having begun with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Source: Wall Street Journal
