U.S. President Donald Trump believes that Russia is not showing sufficient interest in advancing toward peace in Ukraine, which is why he canceled a planned meeting with Putin — although he does not rule out that such talks could take place later.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated this during a press briefing on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“Unfortunately, from the Russian side, as of late, he has not seen enough interest and enough action in terms of moving the ball forward towards peace,” Leavitt said.
She explained why Trump decided to impose sanctions on Russia now: “The President has always maintained that he would impose sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary. And yesterday was that day.”
Leavitt recalled that Trump has long expressed frustration with Putin — “and frankly both sides of this war,” since achieving a peace agreement requires both sides to be interested in a good peace deal.
She added: “The President [Trump] wants to see action, not just talk. And I think the president is extremely motivated by the success of his peace deal in the Middle East to get things done. He wants this [Russian] war to come to an end.”
At the same time, she noted that the White House does not rule out a future meeting between Trump and Putin.
“The President and the entire administration hopes that one day that can happen again, but we want to make sure that there’s a tangible positive outcome out of that meeting and that it’s a good use of the president’s time,” Leavitt emphasized.
As reported by Ukrinform, a week ago — a day before meeting with Zelensky — Trump held a phone conversation with Putin. Following the call, Trump announced preparations for a meeting with him in Hungary.
However, just a few days later, Washington abandoned those plans. Trump explained his decision by saying he realized he would not achieve what he had hoped for in the negotiations.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine