Kiev, Ukraine
CNN
–
For about 30 hours, the illusion of transatlantic unification over Ukraine was maintained.
Europe and Ukraine were demanding a deal A 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by the Trump administration two months ago. European leaders said US President Donald Trump personally supported the plan, and that in a call on Saturday, the threat of sanctions was posted online from Kiev if Russia refused to sign up by Monday.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has even joined the chorus of US allies demanding that Russia comply with the demand for ceasefire.
However, later, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to even mention demand, instead refused to present anything as something new, and spoke about a direct Russian Ukraine discussion in Istanbul four days later. And the unity across the Atlantic was shattered. Trump jumped to the Kremlin proposal – simply about his true social network, Putin has said he doesn’t want a ceasefire – instead he told Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky, “Chap a meeting now!!!”
Again, the pendulum turned around. Trump was notably silent as longtime US allies trumpeted their new unity. Putin spoke, and Trump reorganized.
Zelensky only can demonstrate personal commitment and courage, and offers to meet with Putin, a man charged with war crimes against his country. That’s a tough move domestically for him.
It is important not to rule out the possibility that Moscow and Washington are hatching something that brings the world closer to peace. But as Trump said, European leaders seemed to silence themselves in turn. The Ukraine skies were not.
On the night when a ceasefire was requested, Russia launched 108 drones and carried out a strike, including one that locked up a 10-year-old girl under a tile rub in the Kherson area.
The importance of the Kiev declaration on Saturday has reduced the immediate possibility of an end to a month’s battle. European leaders appeared to be extremely skeptical that their overture would win Moscow’s approval. Instead, the cynicism may argue that the Trump administration sought to prove to the White House that Putin is not interested in peace or indeed in a particular ceasefire proposal.
However, it was not the only “evident” that Europe’s four biggest military forces gained due to their complicated and long trips to the Ukrainian capital. Trump has also improved their perspective on his true position.
Putin has now been encouraged three times. He was able to completely ignore the demands of Europe and Ukraine. Second, he was not facing any “massive sanctions” against Russia, and he supported military aid to Ukraine, which Europe appears to suggest Trump’s support.
Third, his proposal for an in-person meeting in Istanbul – nothing new there, banning Thursday’s dates – suddenly became the basis for Trump’s position. The US President has curtailed the likelihood of consequences if those consultations were not fruitful. However, yet another step was introduced between Russia, with indifference to peace and Ukrainian allies escalating measures against Moscow.
It is the singular theme of Trump reluctantly moving in a way that undermines his relationship with the Kremlin, in all of everything in the past few months of Chaos. I don’t know if Trump and Putin spoke between European visits to Kiev and the posts that Trump is about the True Society. But perhaps we don’t need to: Either way, when faced with a fork in the road between unity his European allies seek and the pathway between Putin and the path where he stays on better terms, Trump chose the latter.
The Threat of Sanctions – Large or not, it has always been a complicated task. Russia is already heavily approved, and there are limited movements that are still restricted from actual results without significantly damaging the West. The key is whether Europe tries to inflict pain on Russia without the support of the US. Doing so would expose their dissociation, but it could be a better choice than their threat at Kiev Ringing Hollow.
Meetings in Istanbul, if they actually happen, are in themselves extremely dangerous steps. Putin and Zelensky clearly sneer each other. The former sees the latter as a symbol of success that emerged from the decline of an empire that was not yet embraced by Soviet bureaucrats. The latter considers the former a man who mercilessly invaded without reason, and mercilessly bombards his children every night. Men may be unable to find a common ground than they have walked the path ahead, emerged and reconciled.
The White House is not impossible for Turkish US Secretary of State and local Trump to promote on the day it was proposed. However, despite suggesting direct consultations, Putin has not yet agreed to attend. The deep involvement of the US can backfire relationships with almost everyone.
The simplest conclusion drawn from the past few days is that Trump cannot see Putin trying to buy time. Kremlin’s troops appear to be strengthening rather than reducing, along the frontlines that are pushing hard near Pokrovsk In eastern Ukraine. The weekend deadline has arrived, revealing a brief moment of unity as an abnormality, making the White House not want to anger Putin.
The chances of a meeting in Istanbul are only three days. But it will not bring about peace anytime soon, and perhaps not a ceasefire. However, it brings diplomatic pageants and important personal hostility between two men from a totally different generation of the post-Soviet world. Even reverting the peace process may again delay the moment when Trump has to decide whether to join a European alliance when causing pain to Russia to refuse an armistice.
The answer to Trump’s postponed important decision is already clear. It is not how Europe and Ukraine cover for themselves.
