During the recent Group of Seven (G7) summit, US President Donald Trump discussed intensifying pressure on Moscow and suggested he might walk away from prior diplomatic arrangements made with Russia, Axios reporred.
Trump has become skeptical of Putin
Citing two US officials present at the summit, the report states that Trump expressed mounting frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Trump hinted that he might abandon the so-called “Anchorage Understandings” – a purported framework under which the US had agreed to a Russian demand to maintain control over the Donbas region in any future peace settlement.
Despite Trump’s rhetoric about stepping up pressure on the Kremlin, European allies reportedly remain unconvinced. One of the officials noted that there are significant doubts within Europe regarding whether the US president will follow through with tangible measures.
“Trump was skeptical of everything related to Putin and talked about pressuring Russia, but other leaders do not believe that he will actually do anything about it,” the official stated.
Hardliners press the Kremlin
The uncertainty surrounding US-brokered peace efforts comes as the Kremlin faces domestic pressure to abandon diplomacy altogether.
According to Reuters, Russian nationalist hardliners are increasingly calling on Putin to halt negotiations with the US and dramatically escalate the war against Ukraine. This anger has been fueled by a recent series of successful Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow, St. Petersburg, and occupied Crimea.
Russian Guided Bombs Strike Zaporizhzhia, Injuring 11
Pro-war commentators are arguing that diplomacy with Washington has failed and are demanding that Russia seek Ukraine’s complete military defeat.
Some extreme voices, such as nationalist businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, have even questioned why Russia is not utilizing its tactical nuclear arsenal. Others have urged Moscow to emulate Iran’s direct approach toward confronting the US, arguing that Ukrainian strikes would be impossible without Washington’s approval.
Despite this aggressive rhetoric, the Kremlin has so far resisted demands to formally abandon negotiations. However, three senior Russian officials recently told Reuters that contacts with the US had failed to produce meaningful progress, accusing Washington of not delivering on proposals discussed during last year’s Putin-Trump summit in Alaska.
Russia’s stance on ceasefire
As international frameworks appear shaky, Russian leadership continues to rule out a freeze in the conflict.
Earlier in the week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow will not agree to halt fighting along the current front line as a precondition for peace negotiations. He claimed that Russia had already been “deceived” by such an approach during the failed Istanbul talks in 2022.
Lavrov asserted that Russia had withdrawn forces from the Kyiv region as a “gesture of goodwill,” only to see the negotiations collapse amid Western interference. Consequently, he dismissed Kyiv’s proposals to freeze the conflict along the current lines.
Both Lavrov and Putin have maintained that while Russia is open to resuming peace talks, any settlement must reflect the “new territorial realities,” demanding that Ukraine surrender the entirety of the Donetsk region – including areas Russian forces want to capture.
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
