Trump speaks to Putin; Vance says US could walk away from Ukraine war

After the European leaders’ phone call with Trump on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said on X: “Tomorrow President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe.”

Putin is wary of a ceasefire and says fighting cannot be paused until conditions are met, including a halt to Western arms for Kyiv.

European leaders say Putin is not serious about peace. They worry that Trump may abandon support for Kyiv, forcing it to accept a punitive peace deal that would leave Ukraine shorn of a fifth of its territory and lacking a strong security guarantee against possible future attack.

Before Trump returned to office this year, Washington joined Western European leaders and Ukraine in describing Russia’s invasion as an imperial-style land grab.

Trump’s administration has shifted US policy towards accepting some of Russia’s account of the conflict, which Moscow says it launched because of a security threat from Ukraine’s drift towards the West.