Officials in Ukraine and Europe believe U.S. President Donald Trump is close to walking away from peace talks aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, The Financial Times reported on April 28, citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to those sources, Trump may use “minor progress” in negotiations as a pretext to declare that “his job is done.” After recent talks with the United States, Ukrainian and European officials reportedly believe Trump is ready to use any “breakthrough” this week — even one that falls short of a lasting settlement — as justification to exit the talks.
One source said officials in Washington had begun to worry “that they’re really coming back with nothing in talks with Russia” and had started floating proposals that could be finalized within the short timeline Trump has set. A European official told the outlet that Trump is “setting up a situation where he gives himself excuses to walk away and leave it to Ukraine and us [Europe] to fix.”
The sources said Trump began to reconsider his involvement in the process after Vladimir Putin refused to accept key U.S. and Ukrainian demands — including a guarantee that Ukraine would retain a sizable postwar military.
According to The Financial Times, Ukrainian officials have started preparing to move forward alone: ramping up domestic arms production and intensifying talks with European allies about future military assistance. The outlet’s sources said it remains unclear whether the U.S. will continue sharing intelligence with Ukraine if Washington withdraws from the negotiations.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier that the week of April 28 to May 4 would be “very critical” for the talks. He also said it would be unwise to set a firm deadline for reaching a peace deal. Earlier in April, Rubio warned that the U.S. was prepared to walk away if no progress was made soon.
Trump has said he set a deadline by which both sides must come to the negotiating table, though he has not said when that deadline expires.
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