The key facts
- Andrew Weiss (Carnegie Endowment) believes Trump may seek Kyiv's consent to a peace settlement by December, before the G20 summit.
- According to The Washington Post, the US has suspended new sanctions against Russia and delayed approval of the transfer of Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine.
- Trump publicly criticized Zelensky and stated that a change of leadership in Ukraine is necessary.
Expert linked US actions to pressure on Kyiv
US President Donald Trump may attempt to secure Ukraine's agreement to a peace deal with Russia as early as December — before a presumed meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit. This opinion was expressed by Andrew Weiss, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a conversation with The Washington Post. In his assessment, the recent decisions of the US administration may be connected not so much with questions of Russian diesel fuel supplies as with the White House's desire to accelerate the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. Weiss suggests that Trump expects to push Kyiv toward a political solution ahead of the December G20 summit, and a possible meeting between the presidents of Russia and the US could become an important stage of this diplomatic process.
Washington's steps that caused concern in Kyiv
As The Washington Post writes, the Trump administration has recently suspended the introduction of new anti-Russian sanctions and delayed approval of the transfer of American Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine. In addition, the American leader publicly criticized Volodymyr Zelensky and stated that a change of leadership in Ukraine is necessary. These statements came amid an escalation of disagreements between Washington and Kyiv. In Weiss's view, the combination of such decisions may indicate Trump's desire to increase pressure on the Ukrainian authorities and secure agreement on a negotiated settlement within a short timeframe.
Context: rapprochement with Moscow amid disagreements with Kyiv
According to The New York Times, cited by Life.ru, the American president has intensified his criticism of Zelensky while simultaneously taking steps to restore cooperation with Moscow and increasingly seeking to normalize relations with Russia, even amid disagreements with Kyiv.
