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European leaders still hold out hope that US President Donald Trump will return to his earlier view that Russia is responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine, but they are also preparing for the worst-case scenario, in which the United States “forgives” Russia and leaves Ukraine with no assistance.
Source: Bloomberg, citing sources, as reported by European Pravda
Details: In Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, there is still hope that as negotiations continue to stall, Trump will return to his “October” position (when he first imposed sanctions on Russia), viewing Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as the main obstacle to ending the Russo-Ukrainian war, and start to ramp up pressure on the Russian economy.
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However, European leaders fear that the White House leader may wash his hands of the war and step back if he does not see a potential deal emerging soon.
There are differing views on how this may unfold, a Western European official told Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity.
In the potential worst-case scenario, Trump would stop pressuring Russia, block Ukraine from receiving US weapons and cease intelligence sharing, leaving the entire burden of support to Europe.
A slightly less negative scenario, Bloomberg’s sources say, would involve Trump distancing himself and declaring that this is now “Europe’s war”, while continuing to sell weapons to NATO for use by Ukraine and sharing intelligence.
Background:
On 6 December, French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he briefed the Ukrainian leader on recent international discussions concerning Ukraine.
Axios has learned that a phone call between Zelenskyy and US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Saturday 6 December went on for two hours, and the discussion of territorial issues was said to have been “difficult”.
Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Special Envoy for Ukraine, has said that a deal to end the war in Ukraine is “really close”.
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