Europe left distraught as Trump plans meeting with Putin

The Washington Post reported the information.

According to the source, Europe was "distraught" when they saw that Trump was planning to meet Putin in person.

“For all the bluster, Trump has not put a single iota of pressure on Putin — yet. Zero, zip.” the source said.

At the same time, an unnamed high-ranking Ukrainian official told the publication that Kyiv is trying to remain optimistic about the Trump-Putin meeting, hoping that the Kremlin leader is considering the possibility of a partial ceasefire that would stop airstrikes on Ukraine.

“In general, we all understand that finishing the war is fully in Trump’s hands. If there would be a partial ceasefire — everything except line of contact — as a first step, that would be good,” the source noted.

According to him, there are signals from non-public sources about Russia's readiness for a deal.

"However, the trust is fully broken between sides," the official added.

He noted that talk of a partial ceasefire may be nothing more than a tactical move by Russia to appease Trump and give him a political victory ahead of the midterm elections.

Such a deal would not end the war, but it would allow Trump to say something like: "I stopped the daily killing of hundreds of innocent civilians," the source added.

Officially, representatives of the European Union have expressed skepticism about Putin's intentions.

“It is very clear that Russia is not interested in any peace as such because we have seen it in their actions not in their words,” said EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Anita Hipper on Thursday.

• President Donald Trump could meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as early as next week, a White House official said on Wednesday.
• Russia and the United States have agreed to hold a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, while the Russian leader has disregarded a proposal for a trilateral meeting involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.