Ukraine Crisis: Putin, Trump & War 💥 🇺🇦

World News

Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO emerged as a “key question” during discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior American officials following a nearly five-hour meeting in Moscow. According to a statement released on Wednesday by Putin’s top aide, Yury Ushakov, the American delegation, which included Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, acknowledged Russia’s considerations and proposals. The meeting concluded without a breakthrough in Ukraine peace negotiations. Ushakov stated that American partners were prepared to address Russia’s concerns. Despite Ukraine’s argument that NATO membership is crucial for defense against future aggression, Moscow maintains that Ukraine should never be admitted to the military alliance. A significant point of contention remains the occupied territories, with Ushakov adding, shortly after the Witkoff meeting, that “no compromise” had been reached on the regions Russia seized and intends to retain. Following the meeting, Ukraine’s European allies criticized Russia, accusing Putin of lacking any intention to end the full-scale conflict initiated in February 2022. “What we see is that Putin has not changed any course. He’s pushing more aggressively on the battlefield,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated. “It’s pretty obvious that he doesn’t want to have any kind of peace.”

In February 2022, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced that Hungary would not supply weapons or financial assistance to Ukraine, following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Szijjarto criticized what he described as “brutal war fanaticism” within NATO’s European members, arguing it prevented rational decision-making and undermined U.S. efforts led by Donald Trump to broker a peace agreement. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull indicated that the meeting between Putin and Witkoff had not advanced Washington’s goal of a peace settlement. “The signals that seem to have come out of it is that the search for a peace agreement acceptable to both sides has, for the time being, stalled,” Hull stated. “What really matters here in Ukraine is what Donald Trump’s next move is. Will he come back with another barrage of threats to get Ukraine to capitulate to a bad deal? Or does he, potentially worse, lose interest and walk away?” Separately, the European Union agreed to phase out Russian gas by late 2027. “By depleting Putin’s war chest, we stand in solidarity with Ukraine,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated in a related announcement. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s parliament approved a 2026 budget allocating over a quarter of the country’s GDP to military spending, including the purchase and production of weapons. “This is an important signal of Ukraine’s resilience and securing a stable financial provision for the next year’s needs,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented.