Kateryna Hirnyk09:06, 25.04.25

Trump is frustrated by his inability to mediate an end to the war, but so far his impatience has not led to any attempts to force Russia into negotiations.

US President Donald Trump’s strange and cold words about the war in Ukraine illustrate his unilateral and pro-Russian stance on a peaceful settlement and destroy any hopes that the United States is an impartial mediator in achieving peace, writes CNN , analyzing Trump’s latest statements.

“The unbalanced nature of the US peacekeeping effort can be seen in Trump’s deliberately vague language about the conflict and in the strange, even bizarre, ways in which he talks about the war,” the publication notes.

Early Thursday morning, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine, killing 12 people and wounding 90. In response, Trump posted a rather “cool” post on social media, in which he “seemed more concerned about when the attacks occurred than how defenseless civilians were killed,” without directly blaming Putin, CNN notes.

“Another US president could have expressed sympathy for the victims, pointed out that the deliberate attack on civilians is a war crime and threatens consequences. But Trump’s response was consistent with his long-standing practice of refusing to link the results of horrific attacks to the leader who ordered them,” the publication notes.

At the same time, Trump complained about “inflammatory statements, similar to those made by Zelensky, which make it so difficult to resolve this war.” This contrast in the tone of the US president towards the two leaders is noteworthy, experts emphasize.

“When Zelensky dares to tell the truth, Trump really criticizes him. When Putin kills civilians with ballistic missiles, he just corrects him. Or punishes him slightly,” said former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst.

At the same time, when Trump was asked what concessions Russia had made in the conflict compared to his constant pressure on Ukraine, he said that the fact that Russia would stop the war and stop taking over the entire country is already a big enough concession, CNN notes:

“This response betrays a strange lack of understanding of what happened and shows how comprehensively Trump views the war through the prism of Putin.”

Sources told CNN on Thursday that Trump is secretly frustrated by his inability to broker an end to the war. But so far, his impatience has not led to any attempts to coerce Russia. Trump could, for example, supply weapons to Ukraine, send Patriot systems to Kyiv and impose secondary sanctions on countries that continue to buy Russian oil and finance its military efforts.

But he did none of this. And his uneven approach threatens to further punish the victim of war, the publication emphasizes.

Trump’s statements

Trump previously said he believed Putin would hear his call and stop bombing Ukraine . He said both Russia and Ukraine wanted peace and should come to the negotiating table. Trump noted that he had his own deadline for a peace deal.

He also previously accused Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of being more difficult to reach an agreement with than with Putin.

And White House press secretary Caroline Levitt, commenting on the talks in London, said that Trump is disappointed and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “moving in the wrong direction.”

(C)UNIAN 2025