Credit: AP
Donald Trump has spoken to President Zelenskyy today and put a positive interpretation on the call, insisting a peace deal is “on track”.
It follows a series of blows to Trump's unique brand of diplomacy.
Vladimir Putin has already rejected the American call for a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire. The Kremlin agreed instead to a limited halt to attacks on energy infrastructure - and even that may already have been breached.
President Zelenskyy - speaking from Helsinki on Tuesday - had complained about being frozen out of the conversation.
But Trump has written on social media that today’s call with Zelenskyy, which lasted an hour, went well: “Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs. We are very much on track.”
There are a few small, promising signs.
There has been a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine. Talks are set to begin on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.
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The top Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has revealed that the technical talks on extending the limited ceasefire deal will begin in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
And Witkoff hinted that a Putin-Trump summit in the Kingdom was still very much on the agenda, telling Bloomberg: “My best bet would be it’s likely to happen”.
But there is a fundamental question that the two Trump phone calls have not answered.
Has the Kremlin curtailed its maximalist demands for Ukraine to be a hollowed-out country with no ability to receive foreign military assistance or security guarantees?
If that remains Putin’s position, then this devastating war has a long way to run.
The other key point is that Ukraine is just one of three wars that the White House is engaged in, either militarily or diplomatically.
Trump today issued another apocalyptic warning to the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen: “Tremendous damage has been inflicted upon the Houthi barbarians, and watch how it will get progressively worse — It’s not even a fair fight, and never will be. They will be completely annihilated!”
And then there is the horror of Gaza and the heavy civilian casualties among Palestinians. It is known that America was informed of the Israeli strikes and gave the green light.
This is a White House fighting battles on multiple fronts, domestically and internationally.
To Europeans, Ukraine is centre stage.
But to President Trump it is just one crisis among many.
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