Frustrated, Trump signals pause in his Ukraine peace effort

President Donald Trump is signaling that he would step back for now from efforts to reach a Ukraine peace deal, expressing frustration over rising casualties and the failure of the two sides to come closer to a peace agreement.

“I’m not happy about anything about that war. Nothing. Not happy at all,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.

He added that he would make an important decision about the future of the conflict in “two weeks,” a phrase that he often uses not to specify a precise time frame, but to indicate that he wants to put off a decision for a while. After that time, he said, “We’ll know which way I’m going, because I’m going to go one way or the other.”

The comments amounted to a significant shift from a president who had projected great confidence over the past several weeks in his ability to obtain security guarantees for Ukraine and a swift meeting between the warring leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

During the course of this week, Trump has gone from boasting that he could bring a quick end to the war to expressing skepticism that he would be able even to bring the leaders together for a face-to-face conversation.

Trump has invested significant time and energy in efforts to bring about a quick end to the war, including a summit in Alaska with Putin just over a week ago, followed by meetings with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House on Monday.

For all the diplomatic pageantry, however, there’s been little sign of progress, with Moscow resisting any proposals to cease its attacks on Ukraine or accept anything short of its maximum goals for the war. Outside analysts have suggested the White House misunderstood Putin’s aims and may have been influenced by wishful thinking.

The White House said this week that Trump had secured a commitment from Putin to attend such a meeting. Kremlin officials, however, consistently have downplayed the likelihood that the Russian president would do so. Meeting directly with Zelensky would imply Putin’s recognition of the Ukrainian as the legitimate leader of an independent nation, something the Kremlin has refused to do.

If no meeting takes place, “I’ll see whose fault it is,” Trump said, repeatedly saying that there are two actors involved when asked about Russia’s sustained attacks on Ukraine this week.

He left open the possibility that he could pursue economic penalties against Russia or leave Ukraine to go it alone.

“It’s going to be a very important decision,” Trump said. “And that’s whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or do we do nothing and say, ‘It’s your fight’?” Trump said.

Trump had threatened to levy large secondary sanctions on countries that buy oil from Russia as well as new sanctions on Moscow if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. But he abandoned both the deadline and the ceasefire demand in the run-up to the Alaska summit. He has imposed tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

Russian officials have rejected the possibility of troops from NATO countries on the ground in Ukraine — a guarantee Trump proposed after his Monday meeting with European leaders. European officials, however, have continued to meet among themselves and with their Ukrainian counterparts to work on what such guarantees might include.

As part of that effort, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with Zelensky and other Ukrainian leaders Friday in Kyiv.

Trump displayed mixed sentiments Friday about Putin, whom he has long sought to cultivate as an ally. He held up a photo of himself standing beside the Russian president in Anchorage, which he said Putin had mailed him. He suggested it was possible that Putin, whom the International Criminal Court has charged with war crimes, may attend the World Cup, which the United States will host in 2026. The U.S. does not recognize the international court’s jurisdiction.

“I thought it was a nice picture of him, OK, of me,” Trump said, picking up the photo from the Resolute Desk. “So that was very nice that it was sent to me.”

But he also said that he told Putin that he’s “not happy about” a Russian strike on Ukraine that hit an American factory. The attack involved almost 600 drones and 40 missiles, and Zelensky said it demonstrated that Russia was not interested in peace.

Trump also refrained from showing support for Zelensky, saying that it “takes two to tango.”

Trump expressed frustration that Ukraine has proven more difficult than other conflicts to solve. This week, he began taking credit for solving seven global conflicts, up from six he claimed last week. On Friday, he increased the count to 10 — adding three unidentified “pre-wars.”

“I thought this would be in the middle of the pack in terms of difficulty,” he lamented.