According to sources close to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin feels he is in a position of strength ahead of today’s scheduled phone call with Donald Trump, convinced that his troops will manage to fully capture the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow is claiming, by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the German chancellery confirms that the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy (Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, and Giorgia Meloni, respectively) will speak with Trump again by phone.
The phone call with the Kremlin follows last week’s failed summit in Turkey — which Putin refused to attend, and consequently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also snubbed; the low-level delegations made no substantial progress.
On Saturday, the U.S. president, who for months has portrayed himself as a powerful peacemaker–and who, according to many sources, is now said to be “losing patience” with Moscow after long claiming to trust the Kremlin’s good intentions–announced on Truth Social, his personal megaphone, that he would speak with the Russian president by phone on Monday.
But according to Bloomberg, which spoke with sources close to the Kremlin, Putin has no intention of offering significant concessions. He prefers to keep the negotiations, or the appearance of negotiations, alive in order to buy time and diplomatic legitimacy while continuing military pressure. Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022 and, despite Kyiv’s resistance, funded by the European Union and the United States, and severe losses among Russian troops, continues its military campaign with substantial gains.
Trump, however, is pushing for a quick ceasefire, eager to end the war and present himself as a dealmaker.
The American president’s direct and optimistic approach is causing concern among European leaders. On Friday, during a phone call with Trump, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clearly expressed their fear that Putin is manipulating him. They wanted, according to a senior European official, to make Trump understand that he risks appearing weak or like a “loser” if a lowball deal is imposed on Kyiv.
Europe, too, is experiencing internal discord. A summit in Tirana, Albania, on the Ukraine issue saw the absence of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who did travel to the Albanian capital, but only to meet with newly re-elected Prime Minister and ally Edi Rama. She did not attend the meeting with other European leaders. Officially, Meloni explained her absence by saying she does not intend to send Italian troops to Ukraine. European allies responded that no one is sending troops on the ground.
