{"content":"Trump’s Private Comments Show Shift on Putin and Ukraine War Donald Trump recently surprised European leaders during a private call where he admitted that his "buddy" Vladimir Putin still thinks he’s winning the war in Ukraine and doesn’t want to stop fighting. This is different from Trump’s usual public message where he says Putin wants peace. The call included leaders like Ukraine’s President Zelensky, France’s Macron, Germany’s Merz, Italy’s Meloni, and the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen. Although Trump admitted Putin isn’t serious about peace, he still didn’t agree to put new sanctions on Russia—something the European leaders were asking for. Talks Before and After Putin Call A day before the main call, Trump spoke with leaders from France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. He said he might support sanctions if Putin refused a cease-fire. But instead of taking strong action, Trump pushed for low-level peace talks at the Vatican. Zelensky agreed to the idea, but Trump still avoided any real commitment. Trump told reporters: “This isn’t my war. We shouldn’t have been involved.” Some European leaders wanted a 30-day unconditional cease-fire. Trump disagreed, even though he had used that exact word in a recent post on Truth Social. Europe Gets Tougher After Merz Becomes German Chancellor Things heated up when Friedrich Merz took over as Germany’s leader. He’s much tougher on Putin than the last chancellor. On May 10, Merz, Macron, UK’s Starmer, and Poland’s Tusk made a surprise visit to Ukraine. They even called Trump from Kyiv, asking him to pressure Putin. After that, Putin agreed to send negotiators to Turkey for talks with Ukraine—but he didn’t show up himself. His team repeated old demands that Ukraine had already rejected. What’s Next? European leaders asked Trump again to take stronger action. Minor sanctions have been introduced, but bigger ones are still in planning. Trump said he’ll speak to Putin directly soon, as he believes only a personal talk can lead to peace.","images":["https://d2kdcqywr8ua22.cloudfront.net/uploadfile/article/blog/2025052025/05/22/de60699dfc734537a13b7eb1dc3c04f6.png"],"tags":[],"tradingPairs":[],"quotearticleid":0}