Trump tells European counterparts that Putin isn’t ready for peace — The Wall Street Journal

U.S. President Donald Trump privately told European leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not prepared to end the war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the conversation. The remarks reportedly came after Trump’s phone call with Putin on May 19.

According to the sources, Trump said that Putin does not want to end the war in Ukraine because he sees himself as the victor. While many European leaders shared that assessment, The Wall Street Journal noted this was the first time they had heard it directly from Trump.

During the call, Trump also told European leaders that the next round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations would take place at the Vatican, with a meeting expected in mid-June.

Following his conversation with Putin, Trump held separate calls with leaders from Ukraine and several European countries. Multiple media outlets later reported additional details from those discussions. According to Axios and The New York Times, Trump said Putin had agreed to negotiations but that the United States would not take part — leaving Russia and Ukraine to settle the conflict on their own. Bloomberg reported that Trump “signaled that he was convinced Russia was winning” and repeated several Kremlin talking points. The Financial Times wrote that European leaders were “stunned” by the agreements discussed between Trump and Putin.