Putin is absent but not forgotten: What is Trump ready to do if Russia rejects his agreements with Zelensky?
After three hours of talks in Florida, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said they had made significant progress toward achieving peace with Russia. However, the main issue remains unresolved: Putin is demanding Donbas, Zelensky opposes this, while Trump insists on reaching a deal. This time, the U.S. and Ukrainian leaders are speaking of a time frame of several weeks, after which the parameters of a peace agreement should become much clearer, the BBC wrote.
According to CNN, President Donald Trump, expressing confidence about the state of the peace talks over the war in Ukraine, stressed that the talks remain complicated and declined to provide a specific timeline for a possible resolution after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Following the talks, neither Zelensky nor his American counterpart announced any major breakthrough in efforts to end the conflict launched by Russia. Both stated that the process is complex and will require more time.
Nevertheless, unlike some previous meetings, Trump praised Zelensky and assured that peace is near.
From their meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, the publication concluded that the war is either nearing its end or will continue for an indefinite period. Trump insists he has no deadline for ending the war in Ukraine, but he also appeared to hint that now may be the most opportune moment to finally bring the conflict to a close.
Putin is absent, but not forgotten. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to Palm Beach. However, Trump held a phone conversation lasting more than an hour with the Russian leader before the start of talks with Zelensky. Trump also said he would speak with Putin again after meeting with the Ukrainian president.
The BBC, for its part, added that there is still no answer to the key question of whether Ukraine will be forced to cede territory in exchange for a promise of peace. This is one of Russia’s main demands and, apparently, one supported by the United States, so the fact that Zelensky has not accepted it — at least publicly — is seen as good news for Ukraine.
There is also no clarity on another crucial issue: security guarantees. Although President Zelensky says they have been agreed with the United States “100 percent,” it remains unclear what exactly they entail and whether they would be sufficient to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.
No less important is the fact that, regardless of what agreements Presidents Trump and Zelensky may reach, there is little reason to believe that Russia will accept them. In fact, Moscow has already rejected the main ideas that were circulating just before the Florida talks — declaring a ceasefire and deploying multinational forces in Ukraine to monitor it.
“This raises the question of what Donald Trump is ready to do if Russia rejects his agreements with Volodymyr Zelensky. So far, the main target of his pressure, irritation, and anger has been the Ukrainian leader. Trump’s continued positive rhetoric about Vladimir Putin — who, as the U.S. president said today, is ‘serious’ about peace and ‘wants to see Ukraine succeed’ — suggests that this is unlikely to change,” the outlet concluded, adding that there are few signs that a lasting peace will prevail in Ukraine in the near future.
