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Trump accuses Putin: ‘He’s playing me, new sanctions in sight’

After the trip to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis and the meeting with Zelensky, the US president changes course: peace far away, Russia in his sights

Donald Trump’s confidence in Vladimir Putin is beginning to waver. After weeks of optimism about the possibility of an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the US president changes his tone. ‘Putin doesn’t want an end to the war, he’s playing me,’ Trump declared after his lightning trip to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, during which he also had an important conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The meeting at the Vatican helped to smooth relations after the heated discussion on 28 February at the White House. However, the balance Trump draws on his return to the US is clear: peace remains far away and Moscow continues to obstruct any attempt at dialogue.

Missiles on civilians: Trump accuses Moscow
During the return flight, Trump took to social media to make a harsh comment: ‘There was no reason for Putin to strike civilian areas, towns and villages in the last few days. This makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war and should be treated with banking or secondary sanctions.’

This is the first real lunge directed at ‘Vladimir’, despite the fact that only a few days earlier Trump had appealed to Putin to reach an understanding. The diplomatic mission of Steve Witkoff, the White House’s special envoy for Russia, seemed to have reopened glimmers of dialogue, but the latest events seem to belie any optimism.

Kremlin ready to negotiate, but scepticism growing
From the Kremlin, spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow’s readiness to negotiate ‘without preconditions’. However, the proposal does not seem to convince Washington. Trump, before leaving for Rome, had set a ‘deadline’ of about a week to decide on the introduction of new sanctions against Russia. Now that the deadline is approaching, the hypothesis of a tightening of measures against Moscow seems increasingly concrete.

The US still believes that in order to reach a truce, Ukraine will have to accept territorial sacrifices. In particular, Trump categorically rules out the possibility of recovering Crimea, ‘now part of Russia since 2014, when Obama was in the White House’.

Kiev seeks flexibility in dialogue
Zelensky, for his part, continues to publicly support Ukraine’s territorial integrity. However, even in Kiev it is recognised that too rigid a stance could jeopardise the dialogue with Washington.

According to reports in the New York Times, Ukraine has submitted a proposal to the United States that includes maintaining its armed forces without restrictions, sending a US-backed European security contingent to Ukrainian territory, and using frozen Russian assets as war reparations. There is no mention, however, of the total reconquest of occupied territories or immediate NATO membership: signs of greater flexibility that Trump is said to have picked up on in the 15-minute conversation he had with Zelensky in the Vatican.

A meeting that could change the course of the war
‘After a long face-to-face conversation, we hope for concrete results on what we discussed,’ Zelensky said after the meeting, calling it ‘potentially historic’ if it leads to shared outcomes.

After the face-to-face with Trump, Zelensky continued his day by meeting Emmanuel Macron, British Labour leader Keir Starmer, and finally Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Palazzo Chigi. The goal remains to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire as soon as possible, through the support of key European partners.

Propaganda and war on the ground: opposing versions
On the military front, the war shows no sign of stopping. The Kremlin emphatically announced the ‘complete liberation’ of the Russian region of Kursk, invaded by Ukrainian forces in August 2024. According to Moscow, all Ukrainian soldiers were eliminated or pushed back across the border, and the defence minister spoke of 76,500 Ukrainian military personnel having fallen.

This version was immediately denied by the Ukrainian General Staff, which described the Russian claims as ‘mere propaganda’. Kiev admits that the situation is ‘difficult’, but denies any risk of encirclement of its troops.

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