The US has considered punitive steps to push Moscow toward a peace deal, but has hesitated to use them, the paper said
US President Donald Trump is placing more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia as he prepares for a new summit with President Vladimir Putin, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources.
Several American officials told the outlet that they have observed Trump’s “hesitation to push Putin, who has shown little interest in concessions needed for a deal.” One WSJ source noted that “the White House has put more pressure on Kiev than on Moscow.”
The WSJ said Washington has weighed additional measures to increase pressure on Moscow, but so far has stopped short of applying them. This comes as Putin and Trump held a phone call on Thursday, during which the two agreed to hold a summit in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks.
Hoping to build diplomatic momentum, US officials are reportedly planning a series of lower-level meetings with their Russian counterparts, to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio – rather than special envoy Steve Witkoff — a change viewed positively by Ukrainian and EU diplomats, according to the paper. Western media tend to view Rubio as more hawkish on Russia than Witkoff, who has held several face-to-face rounds of talks with Putin this year.
Following the call with Putin, Trump received Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the White House on Friday, with talks revolving around potential deliveries of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kiev. According to Axios, however, the meeting was “bad,” and Zelensky left without any promises of deliveries.
Moscow has warned against supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine, arguing they would “not change the situation on the battlefield” but would “severely undermine the prospects of a peaceful settlement” and harm Russia-US relations.
Following the Trump-Zelensky meeting, the US president said that he had told both the Ukrainian leader and Putin that “it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL.” “They should stop where they are… Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” he said.
Russia has consistently praised the Trump administration over what it described as a genuine desire to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict and as attempts to understand its root causes.
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