President Donald Trump is reportedly fuming behind closed doors over the lack of progress made on a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, following his separate meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month, according to new reports.
The lack of progress toward a ceasefire or peace deal between the two countries has reportedly caused Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to end the war within « 24 hours, » to privately fume that his high-profile attempts at diplomacy have seemingly failed, according to new reporting from The Atlantic.
One White House official familiar with the matter told the outlet that some that frustration has been reinforced by some Russia hawks in the GOP, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Graham has reportedly pressured Trump to threaten Russia again with sanctions if it doesn’t come to the negotiating table. The shape of a possible peace deal, if and when it materialises, remains unclear. The U.S. has not firmly agreed to offer any security guarantees to Ukraine. A key sticking point for Putin in any negotiations has been that Ukraine withdraw any bid to join NATO and cede large swaths of territory in Eastern Ukraine to Russia.
Trump has also directed some of his frustrations over the stalled peace talks at Zelensky and European leaders, believing they are being unrealistic in their demands and need to accept that Ukraine has to lose some territory to end the conflict, current and ex-administration officials told the Atlantic.
According to the report, Trump has been wary of sending additional military aid to Ukraine due to the risk of alienating his « America first » MAGA base. This despite reports on Thursday that the U.S. will send nearly $1 billion in aid to Ukraine for guided missile systems.
Trump has also ratcheted up his efforts to blame the war on his predecessor, Joe Biden, even seven months into his own presidency.
“He just wants this over,” the senior official told The Atlantic. “It almost doesn’t matter how.”
The State Department announced Thursday that it had notified Congress of the sale of $825 million worth of extended-range attack munition missiles and navigation systems for Ukraine. The sale will cover 3,350 ERAM missiles and 3,350 GPS units, along with components, spare parts, and other accessories, as well as training and technical support.
It said Ukraine would use funding from NATO allies Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway in addition to U.S. foreign military financing to pay for the equipment.
