Trump finally got mad at Putin

“I’m not happy with Putin. I can tell you that right now,” Trump said, expressing frustration with the Russian leader and the war in Ukraine. “Putin is throwing a lot of crap at us... He’s always very nice, but it turns out to be worthless.”

It may not have been Churchillian oratory, and given that Trump can turn things around in a matter of hours, it is possible – just possible – that a rift has developed between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. If so, it is a watershed moment and a confirmation both for Volodymyr Zelensky, who is in Rome for the annual conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine, and for all those others – notably the British and French governments – who have patiently helped Trump finally pull the curtain down on the Russian president’s true intentions. Finally, after many false starts, the US president seems to have accepted that Putin cannot be persuaded to end the war.

With Trump, however, the break is rarely complete or lasting. Trump's disillusionment with Putin, above all, is unlikely to translate into the kind of concrete financial or political support that Ukraine and Europe desire - but "America first" no longer means "Russia first."

It was a long process with many painful moments. In February, the entire transatlantic alliance seemed on the verge of collapse, as Trump began direct negotiations with Putin and ordered Ukraine to make concessions. Then, on February 19, he repeated the Kremlin’s narrative in a post on his social media, calling Zelensky a “dictator” and warning that Ukraine was running out of time: “Imagine that – a moderately successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, talked the US into spending $350 billion on an unwinnable war (…) A dictator without a choice, Zelensky must act quickly or he will no longer have a country.”

A week later, at the UN General Assembly in New York, the US voted against a resolution proposed by European countries that condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supported Ukraine's territorial integrity - in the same way as Russia, North Korea and Belarus.

Trump's disappointment with Putin, above all, is unlikely to translate into the kind of concrete financial or political support that Ukraine and Europe desire - but "America first" no longer means "Russia first."

Experienced British diplomats were alarmed when the US drafted and voted for a Security Council resolution calling for an end to the conflict but containing no criticism of Russia. Britain and France abstained after their attempts to change the wording failed.

Later that week, a televised confrontation with Zelensky in the Oval Office followed, followed by a swift and warm reception for the Ukrainian leader in London by Keir Starmer and King Charles.

Meanwhile, American negotiator Steve Witkoff displayed a startling level of ignorance of Ukrainian history and sympathized with Putin’s claims that the war was provoked. He often shifted from trying to understand the Russian perspective to openly advocating for the Russian side. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, which seriously worried European diplomats, Witkoff asked: “Why would they want to absorb Ukraine? Why, exactly? They don’t need Ukraine. That would be like occupying Gaza… But the Russians already have what they want. They’ve taken back those five regions. They’ve got Crimea, and they got what they wanted. So why would they need more?”

Witkoff also presented a portrait of Trump, commissioned by Putin, showing the former president covered in blood, with a clenched fist, after an assassination attempt last year. Putin revealed that he had been praying for Trump, and on June 14, he called him to wish him a happy birthday.

However, in late March, Trump's disillusionment with Putin began to surface, as the Russian leader refused to commit to a 30-day ceasefire that Trump had proposed, which Ukraine quickly accepted. On April 1, Finnish President Alexander Stubbs returned from a golf game with Trump and for the first time said that the former US president was losing patience with Russia.

Yet, even by the end of May, Trump’s patience on the issue seemed almost limitless. After failed diplomatic exchanges in Istanbul, continued evasion of a ceasefire agreement, and escalating attacks on Ukraine, Trump vented his frustration on Truth Social, warning that Putin was “playing with fire,” and declared in the Oval Office on May 28 that he would know “within two weeks whether Putin is playing with us.”

Mid-June arrived, but there was no change in strategy.

But a series of events in recent weeks may have changed Trump’s stance. Europe saw the NATO summit on June 25 as a victory for Trump on defense spending, making him more willing to listen to the security concerns of European allies. “There’s a line between flattery and self-abasement — and we were happy to cross it,” said one European diplomat. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called Trump “dad.”

With his ego flattered, Trump seemed less willing to let Putin get in the way. “I think Putin is a man who has been misled. I’m actually very surprised. I thought we would have resolved that war by now,” he told reporters at the summit, revealing that Putin had called him and offered to intervene with Iran. “I said, ‘No, no, help me make a deal with you, with Russia,’ and I think we’re going to do that.”

But the next phone call between the two leaders, on July 4, also went badly, with Putin seemingly deciding that he could gain more from war than from maintaining good relations with Trump. The Kremlin remained adamant: “Our president said that Russia will achieve its goals — that is, eliminate the well-known causes that led to the current situation,” said Yuri Ushakov, a close adviser to Putin. “Russia will not deviate from these goals.”

The deadly Russian nighttime attacks on Ukraine could not be hidden from the American public, and Trump was finally unhappy when it was revealed last week that the Pentagon had withheld a shipment of weapons destined for Ukraine without informing the White House. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was visibly uncomfortable.

For Ukraine supporters in Congress and Europe, the question now is to what extent Trump’s disillusionment with Russia will translate into practical support for Kiev. The real test will come if the devastating sanctions proposed a few months ago by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham receive presidential approval. The measures would impose a 500% tariff on imports from any country that buys Russian uranium, gas or oil – with India and China being hit hardest.

Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the US, is working behind the scenes to "polish" Graham's rough proposal so that secondary sanctions do not affect European companies.

Graham is now proposing an exemption in his bill for countries that still import Russian gas but have supported Ukraine during its three-year war with the Kremlin's military. The bill also gives Trump the right to delay sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil or uranium for 180 days, and the amended version provides for an additional, second exemption lasting 180 days.

“We are moving,” Graham said after Trump’s harsh statement against Putin, adding that Trump told him, “It is time to act, and we will act.” For Ukrainians on the front lines, there remains hope that a turning point has finally come.

The text is taken from "The Guardian"

Translation: NB