Trump Is Trying To End The Russia-Ukraine War…Again

But whatever Trump’s view is on kratom, it’s not his only opinion that may have life or death consequences. The ink isn’t even dry on his Iran deal but he’s already turning his attention back to Russia’s war on Ukraine—the one he promised on the campaign trail to end within 24 hours of taking office.At the same time, though, he says that the US has “nothing to do” with a war that is “thousands of miles away.”And Ukraine and its allies? They’re in a bind.

On one hand—after months in which the war there has been overshadowed by the US and Israeli war against Iran—they want to keep Trump’s attention. They want Trump to make ending their war a priority. On the other hand—based on the way he handled the situation when it was a priority—they’re worried he’s just gonna sideline them from negotiations, deal with Russia on his own, and ultimately pressure Ukraine into making a bad deal. With one EU diplomat telling Politico: “Having Trump be distracted was not necessarily a bad thing.”

And that may be especially true because the Iran war has—besides distracting Trump—become yet another point of friction between the US and many European countries. He clashed with the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, for example, over his failure to consult them before launching the war and their decision not to participate. With Trump threatening at one point or another to pull American troops from these countries at least partly because of their lack of support. And on Sunday, the same day he announced the Iran deal, he quickly gave them reason to be concerned about his approach to Ukraine.

Right, because in addition to talking to Zelensky, he spoke at length with Vladimir Putin over the phone—reportedly telling the Russian president that he’s ready to help end the war in Ukraine.
And an aide to Putin later said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would soon be traveling to Moscow for talks. Also, the next day, notably, ahead of a gathering of the G7 in France, Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s biggest cities—killing 11 people and setting fire to one of the holiest cathedrals in the Eastern Orthodox church.
And today—as talks continued—Ukrainian drones targeted an oil refinery in Moscow roughly 10 miles from the Kremlin.

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Produced by: Cory Ray, Philip DeFranco
Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry
Art Department: William Crespo
Writing/Research: Jared Paolino, Philip DeFranco
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#Russia #Trump #Ukraine