U.S. President Trump refused to agree to the demand of the “Coalition of the Willing”—the U.K.’s Starmer, France’s Macron, Germany’s Merz, and Ukraine’s Zelenskyy—for the poison pill requirement of an “unconditional” ceasefire in Ukraine, according to the Wall Street Journal account of their May 19 discussion, citing “senior European officials familiar with the conversation.” The WSJ claimed that the European leaders “eventually agreed to drop their insistence on the adjective.”
If true, it appears that Trump did hear some of what Putin had said earlier that day and that it had registered with him. Putin has been clear that any ceasefire must have conditions that prevent the use of the ceasefire to consolidate positions and rearm for more fighting. The Russians’ experience, e.g., with the deliberately deceptive behavior of Germany and France during the 2015-22 Minsk Accords, is that they had already extended their good will and finally had to deal with the military build-up on the frontlines.
