The US President has lashed out again at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> as US peace efforts limp on<\/a>, saying he needs to \u201cget his act together and start accepting things\u201d because Russia has the \u201cupper hand\u201d in negotiations.<\/p>\n Trump lobbed his latest bombshell at efforts by Ukraine\u2019s European allies<\/a> to end the war in a Politico interview published on Tuesday. \u201cThey talk, but they don\u2019t produce,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the war just keeps going on and on.\u201d<\/p>\n New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n He did not deny he could abandon peace talks, after one of his sons suggested that he might, saying that was \u201cnot correct but not exactly wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Donald Trump Jr on Monday told Sky News: \u201cI think he may. What\u2019s unique about my father is, you don\u2019t know what he\u2019s going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThe American public doesn\u2019t have the appetite [for funding the war].\u201d<\/p>\n The original 28-point peace plan<\/a> cooked up between US and Russian aides prompted outrage among Ukraine\u2019s Western allies for accepting maximalist demands by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, including surrendering Ukrainian land, neutering its army, allowing Russia to effectively veto its membership of Nato, and offering full amnesty for perpetrators of war crimes committed during Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a>.<\/p>\n A recording of Steve Witkoff speaking with a top Putin aide revealed Trump\u2019s special envoy had coached the Russians not to back down on their demands when dealing with the US President.<\/p>\n European allies have rallied around Ukraine to push back against some of the demands, with their revisions in turn rejected by Russia<\/a>. Moscow has likewise ramped up its claims that Europe and Ukraine are obstructing peace, while lavishing praise on Trump\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n Although Trump has expressed frustration with Russia\u2019s intransigence, he has reserved the majority of his ire for Ukraine and its European allies, whom he views as an obstacle to his desired rapprochement with Russia \u2013 as well as the lucrative business opportunities he believes will follow.<\/p>\n Trump could pull the plug<\/p>\n Western allies now fear the US will abandon its support for Ukraine, after months of pivoting away from traditional allies and towards Russia, leaving Kyiv short of weapons, aid or intelligence.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Trump abandons the negotiation process, which is a likely scenario, and fully disengages, the immediate impact would not be Ukraine\u2019s collapse but a significant shift in the war\u2019s military and political dynamics in Russia\u2019s favour,\u201d Natia Seskuria, associate fellow in international security at the Royal United Services Institute, told The i Paper.<\/p>\n The US spent $130.6bn (\u00a398bn) on Ukraine between 24 January 2022 and 31 August 2025, according to Germany-based think-tank the Kiel Institute, while Europe contributed $201.7bn (\u00a3151.5bn).<\/p>\n In July, the White House paused some military aid to Ukraine<\/a>, reportedly including Patriot air defence missiles and precision-guided weapons. Although weapons deliveries were later restored, Trump announced that future assistance for Ukraine would be funded by Nato allies.<\/p>\n However, Ukraine is reliant on America for certain capabilities that cannot be replaced by European allies. The \u201ccritical vulnerability\u201d is intelligence sharing, according to Seskuria.<\/p>\n \u201cUS intelligence underpins Ukraine\u2019s ability to conduct deep-strike targeting, cue air and missile defence, and anticipate Russian operations. A full cutoff would degrade situational awareness and weaken air defences. European partners lack the scale and integration to replace this capability quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, the US paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine<\/a> for days following Trump\u2019s extraordinary blow-up with Zelensky<\/a> in the Oval Office, apparently to force Ukraine into negotiating with Russia.<\/p>\n That hampered Kyiv\u2019s ability to strike the engines of Russia\u2019s war machine in long-range strikes on its territory, and to defend civilians from Russia\u2019s nightly drone and missile blitzes on Ukraine\u2019s cities.<\/p>\n Last month, one report suggested the US was threatening to cut intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine again to force it to sign up to the peace deal.<\/p>\n It comes at a dangerous moment for Ukraine, with its President facing a major corruption scandal<\/a> and troops under pressure on the front line. While both sides are bogged down in a war of attrition in the eastern Donbas region, Russia\u2019s rate of advance has increased over recent months as it throws more soldiers into the fight and Ukraine struggles with a lack of manpower.<\/p>\n Europe is a long way off replacing the US <\/p>\n Europe, which has been reliant on America for security for decades, would be hard-pressed to provide the same level of support for Ukraine as the US.<\/p>\n While a \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d including Britain, France and Germany has said it will provide security to Ukraine after any peace deal, disagreements over risks, costs and strategy have resulted in little progress and the effective sidelining of Europe from talks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US still has excessive military capabilities compared to other Nato members which means if the US exits this whole game, the coalition of the willing will not have the capabilities to provide Ukraine with the same degree of monetary, intelligence, weapons, etc support,\u201d says Dr Marina Miron, of the War Studies Department at King\u2019s College London.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of arms, there are huge delays. The Europeans and the UK are rearming themselves, and with rising energy prices, that\u2019s also quite difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cEurope and the UK want a seat at the table and they want to back Zelensky as much as they can, but realistically \u2013 from my view \u2013 they don\u2019t really have a lot of leverage in order to influence what the US is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer invited Zelensky to London alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to discuss plans \u201ccomplementing\u201d Trump\u2019s Ukraine peace deal.<\/p>\n Zelensky admitted: \u201cThere are some things which we can\u2019t manage without Americans, things which we can\u2019t manage without Europe, and that\u2019s why we need to make some important decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Seskuria said: \u201cMilitarily, European states can increase arms deliveries, training and logistics support, but integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities would remain a critical vulnerability in Washington\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n \u201cPolitically, achieving the unanimity needed for robust guarantees is challenging, as member states have different threat perceptions, willingness and capacity to commit forces abroad. Europe can sustain a significant portion of Ukraine\u2019s defence effort, but only the US can provide the full spectrum of guarantees necessary to change Moscow\u2019s calculus.\u201d<\/p>\n The real winner would be Russia <\/p>\n The implications of a US withdrawal do not stop with Ukraine. If Ukraine falls, Europe will be more vulnerable than ever. This was emphasised last week in extraordinary but \u2013 for the Trump administration \u2013 not unprecedented language. <\/p>\n The US national security strategy<\/a> codified the direction Trump\u2019s America has taken since his return to the presidency in January, downplaying Russia\u2019s threat and parroting its regime, chastising and blaming European allies for prolonging the Ukraine war, and declaring that Europe is, essentially, no longer its concern.<\/p>\n The Kremlin declared the document to be \u201clargely consistent with our vision\u201d.<\/p>\n Democrats in Congress warned that the strategy could torpedo America\u2019s alliances and see European politicians pushed back.<\/p>\n Poland\u2019s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: \u201cEurope is your closest ally, not your problem. And we have common enemies\u2026 this is the only reasonable strategy of our common security. Unless something has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said Europe did not need \u201coutside advice\u201d.<\/p>\n US disengagement from the continent\u2019s security will only embolden an increasingly revanchist Russia to pursue its openly stated aims of directing the political and security arrangements of countries it views as in its orbit.<\/p>\n Moscow has long deployed an array of attacks from \u201cgrey zone\u201d activity<\/a> all the way to war, from the 2008 invasion of Georgia, downing of civilian flights by Russian separatists and electronic warfare campaigns, to sabotage of infrastructure and the murder of dissidents and foreign civilians.<\/p>\n![\"Ukrainian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_276507818.jpg\")
Zelensky has been accused by Trump of not reading a latest US peace plan (Photo: Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\n![\"DOHA,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_277172368.jpg\")
Trump Jr said he father \u2018may\u2019 walk away from Ukraine talks (Photo: Ahmet Turhan Altay\/Anadolu\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"(L-R)](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_277299540.jpg\")
Germany\u2019s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelensky and France\u2019s President Emmanuel Macron at 10 Downing Street on Monday (Photo: Adrian Dennis\/AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Russian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_277406239.jpg\")
Putin has issued a set of maximalist demands for ending the war in Ukraine (Photo: Gavriil Grigorov\/ Sputnik\/AP)<\/p>\n