Trump: Tomorrow I meet Putin. More important is the second meeting—Putin, Zelenskyy, me, maybe some European leaders. We’ll see.
I think Putin will make peace, Zelenskyy will make peace. If they can get along, it’ll be great.
1/
Q: Will you offer Putin access to rare minerals to end the war?
Trump: We’ll see what happens. The meeting is big—important for Russia, important for us. For us, it matters because we’ll save a lot of lives. 2/
Trump: We’re not giving Ukraine any money—we supply equipment, NATO pays 100%+, and I raised NATO spending from 2% to 5% of GDP.
They owe us $2B, just sent $1B. Biden gave $350B, got nothing. We signed a rare earth deal to get years of supply and recoup costs. 3/
Trump: I’ve solved six wars in just over six months—one lasted 37 years, Congo–Rwanda 31 years.
Pakistan–India had 6–7 planes shot down, close to nuclear—we stopped it. Made peace in all six.
I thought Ukraine–Russia would be easier. It’s the hardest. 4/
Q: Will you offer Putin rare earths?
Trump: We used them as payment for the $350B wasted in Ukraine.
Europe spent $100B and now pays for everything. We spend no money, only time to end the war.
Rare earths matter less—I’m focused on saving lives. 5/
Q: Could your peace incentives reward Putin for invading Ukraine and send the wrong signal?
Trump: No. This war should never have started—it didn’t under me, not discussed for four years. I saw it coming after I left. Everyone’s to blame, including Putin. 6/
Q: Does Putin have a strong hand tomorrow?
Trump: If I weren’t president, he’d take all of Ukraine. CNN calls his visit here a win for him, I’d say the opposite. I think Putin wants a deal. This war should’ve never happened. I’m president, and he’s not going to mess with me.
7/
Q: Would you cut NATO troops in places like Poland to get Russia to agree to peace?
Trump: That hasn’t been put before me. I’ll think about it later, but it’s not on the table now. 8/
Q: Is anything less than an unconditional ceasefire a U.S. win tomorrow?
Trump: Goal is to set the table for the next meeting, maybe in Alaska. I’ll know in minutes if talks are good or bad—bad ends fast, good gets us peace soon. 9X
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Bolton: Trump did not lose, but Putin clearly won.
Trump left with nothing but talk of more meetings. Putin pushed his goal of rebuilding ties, avoided sanctions, faced no ceasefire, and kept Zelenskyy uninformed. He achieved most of what he wanted. Trump gained little. 1/
Q: Do you think there was something actually agreed to?
Bolton: It sounds like it. But there is no White House decision-making process. It's hard under Trump. Today it broke down completely. 2/
Bolton: The mood in Russia after this is going to be close to euphoric. In the US it's going to be confused. In Europe and Ukraine it's going to be very depressed. 3/
Snyder: Trump wants to be remembered as a peacemaker. Ignoring the realities of war makes it impossible. He has made the war longer and worse.
For Russia he is a hope. Inviting a war criminal inside your military base and car is not a signal to end the war. 1/
Snyder: What it reveals is that Trump thinks only about himself.
If you stand next to him and say nice things, you get his permission to do whatever you want in the world. 2/
Snyder: Trump has made no policy, no sanctions, no freezing of assets. Instead he made big concessions, tried to take NATO off the table, no talk of reparations or punishment.
Russians think they can flatter him, mock him, and still go their way. 3/
Russian forces broke through Ukrainian defenses near Dobropillya, advancing several miles deep — a rare gain in a war where Russia holds 20% of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said troops carried only handheld weapons, highlighting the unusual, lightly equipped assault, WSJ. 1/
Ukraine is counterattacking small Russian groups that breached its first defense line. Zelenskyy called the area “the most difficult” on the front, noting some Russians were killed or captured.
He said the push aims to show Russia advancing and Ukraine losing. 2/
Putin seeks a battlefield edge before talks in Alaska, hoping to increase pressure on Kyiv-held cities in eastern Donetsk.
At the summit, the Kremlin will push for U.S. recognition of its control over Donetsk and other occupied Ukrainian regions. 3/