In a virtual meeting on Ukraine on Thursday, President Donald Trump told European leaders they were “funding the war” by buying Russian oil and urged them to cut off Moscow and press China to follow suit, a White House official said.
“The president also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts,” the official added.
Trump told the Daily Caller last week that he’s doubtful Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky will be meeting any time soon lamenting that the two nations may have to “fight a little longer.” Thursday’s call was indicative of the growing frustration the president is feeling for not having made any progress on peace talks and has shifted the onus to European leaders.
Although EU nations have sharply reduced their imports of Russian oil and gas since the war began, a White House official said Moscow still earned 1.1 billion euros from EU fuel sales in a single year. French President Emmanuel Macron, who joined the call, said afterward that if Putin keeps rejecting peace talks with Zelenskyy, additional sanctions will be imposed in coordination with the U.S.
The August summit in Alaska between Trump and Putin ended without any concrete pathway to peace. Trump is now seeking a formal meeting that includes Putin and Zelenskyy, where the topic of recognizing Russian land acquisition and a ceasefire contingent on western military assistance will be discussed. Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the likelihood of any such peace summit occurring in the future and indicated Putin accepted merely to “raise the level of its representation at talks with Ukraine.”
Trump has indicated he’s willing to use U.S. airpower to support European forces in Ukraine but promised not to commit to American boots on the ground. Thursday’s call further emphasized the president’s move to shift the burden of Russia and economic pressure more toward the EU. “The president was cordial but he was very direct in his demand [that] Europe puts more pressure on Russia,” another U.S. official told Axios.
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