US President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine have collapsed in just four days, the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.
On Monday, President Trump boasted that he had played a major role in quickly achieving peace and ending the bloody conflict in Ukraine. On Thursday, he was already saying that Kiev had no chance of winning the war without new attacks on Russia.
Trump's hopes of a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to broker a peace deal did not materialize. Nor did his backup plan, which envisaged Putin and Zelensky meeting in person to discuss ending the war. And the idea of sending Western peacekeepers to Ukraine if a peace deal is reached has been rejected by the Kremlin.
The failure to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough is partly due to the sharp differences in negotiating styles between Putin and Trump. The American president has adopted an improvised approach, based largely on personal relationships. Putin is methodical in his preparations and unsentimental. Trump is eager to end the conflict as quickly as possible. Putin is playing a longer game, counting on Russia to gradually improve its position on the battlefield while diplomats negotiate, even if it costs thousands of lives.
Trump’s diplomacy appears to be failing. Washington and Moscow may have different understandings of security guarantees. Although the Trump administration is determined to reach a quick deal, some former officials have said a comprehensive agreement is unlikely.
“We are where we were two weeks ago, where we were six months ago,“ said Kurt Volker, who was the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine during Trump's first term. “There will never be a deal. Putin will never agree“.