After Zelensky's visit: Trump siding with Putin again?
Volodymyr Zelensky visited Donald Trump at the White House on Friday – and did not receive confirmation of the delivery of Tomahawk cruise missiles previously signalled by the US. The US President had agreed to a US-Russia summit in Budapest in a phone conversation with Putin on Thursday. Media discuss what Trump's latest U-turn means.
Low priority
Trump's attention is focused on other matters right now, La Stampa concludes:
“No Tomahawks, but no harsh words either. As he leaves the White House, Zelensky smiles stiffly and says as little as possible. ... . Perhaps he has understood that Ukraine is not at the top of the American president's list of international priorities. Or at least not so high up that Trump would sacrifice relations with Russia for it. Especially since for the US president the security of Europe and other allies such as Kyiv is not as important as relations with the major powers when it comes to asserting American interests in the world.”
Ceasefire would be good for Kyiv
After his conversation with Zelensky, Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform: "They should stop where they are." Political scientist Volodymyr Fessenko scrutinises this statement on Facebook:
“This can be interpreted as a call for a ceasefire along the front line. The US and Ukraine had already agreed on this way of terminating the war in Saudi Arabia on 11 March 2025. Should Trump actually manage to push Putin into a ceasefire deal, that would be a perfectly acceptable scenario for us. ... It is quite possible that an American peace plan to end the Russian-Ukrainian war will be published either before the meeting in Budapest or after the summit in the Hungarian capital.”
Trump has left Ukraine dangling again
The US president should urgently reconsider his decision not to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons for the time being, The Sunday Times advises:
“Though this White House visit was less explosive than when Zelensky was verbally pummelled earlier this year by Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance, it was fruitless. ... Trump insists he is not being played by Putin, but that is how it looks and it needs to change. ... Now is the time not to leave Ukraine dangling but to complete the job, and that means Tomahawk missiles in sufficient numbers to force peace on Russia on terms that do not disadvantage Ukraine.”
Tomahawks would only escalate the war
Trump is right not to supply Tomahawks to Ukraine, Trud comments:
“If he had given Zelensky the Tomahawks, the Ukrainians would have immediately started attacking Russia's main weapons factories. This would have prompted devastating attacks by the Kremlin on Ukrainian cities and the entire infrastructure. In other words, the consequences for Ukraine would have been dire. Even perfect weapons like Tomahawks cannot win the war for Ukraine. ... Why did Zelensky and his entourage go to Trump to ask for Tomahawks in the first place? Don't they understand what this would mean for them?”
Europe doing zero diplomacy
Die Presse criticises the fact that the EU has not managed to draw up its own peace plan:
“There is still no relevant connection to the Kremlin. Europe is leaving it all up to the 'daddy' in the White House. The fact that the next summit between Trump and Putin is to take place in the very country that torpedoes a common EU line at every opportunity is a deliberate act of malice. In doing so, Trump and Putin are driving a wedge into the EU, which they both want to be as weak as possible. Hungary's Prime Minister Orbán is willingly playing along. But on the other hand, no one has prevented the EU from working out a realistic plan to end the war in Ukraine. Sorry, that's not diplomacy, that's nothing.”