At a certain point facilitating an extension to conflict becomes an enabling of killing. It appears that President Trump has reached the end of his support for delivering mechanisms of war.
Writing on Truth Social, President Trump notes:
According to media reports, President Trump has decided not to sell Tomahawk missiles to NATO for transfer to Ukraine. Nothing good can come from putting more offensive weapons into the conflict other than more bloodshed.
The expressed position of the White House is to freeze the Ukraine war at current “property lines” of control, and enter negotiations to stop fighting. Toward that end, it appears President Trump is no longer willing to facilitate expanded conflict.
This position comes after an extended two-hour conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and also a meeting on Friday with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
AXIOS – President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tense meeting on Friday that he doesn’t intend to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles, at least for now, two sources briefed on the meeting tell Axios.
He stressed that the current U.S. proposal for a diplomatic solution is for the war to end with the front lines frozen in place — a difficult proposition for Ukraine to accept.
Zelensky’s number one priority from the visit was to get commitments from Trump not just on Tomahawks but on a variety of weapons systems Ukraine wishes to obtain, his chief of staff told Axios ahead of the meeting. Trump offered no such commitments.
Zelensky, meanwhile, held a conference call with European leaders immediately after the Trump meeting. Several of them seemed puzzled about Trump’s apparent change of heart, a source who was on the call said.” (more)
Hopefully, President Trump’s approach in the Middle East conflict has provided him enough armor to withstand the onslaught that will follow from the EU/NATO intelligence community and industrial war machine. President Trump wants peace, but peace is against the economic interests of European leaders.
The EU/NATO coalition will likely keep supporting Zelenskyy’s goals; however, President Trump has solidified his position on the cornerstone of peace – stop the killing.
If Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President Trump come to terms in Budapest, Hungary, it will be interesting to see how the unwillingness of Zelenskyy/NATO to negotiate peace plays out.
The economic leverage of President Trump over the EU is somewhat weaker than before. The EU economy is contracting, which would normally create leverage; however, the EU economic recovery plan appears to include war with Russia. Things will be interesting over the next few weeks.