President Trump keeps beseeching Vladimir Putin to end his vicious assault on Ukraine, but the Russian keeps stringing the American along. Could Mr. Trump finally be losing enough patience to try a different strategy?
The two leaders talked by phone on Thursday in one more attempt to coax Mr. Putin to agree to a cease-fire. But Mr. Trump said he was “very disappointed” with the conversation and “didn’t make any progress” with the Russian.
“I’m not happy about that. I’m not happy about that,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “I don’t think he’s looking to stop” the war, he added of Mr. Putin. In case there was any doubt, Mr. Putin added an exclamation point by hitting Kyiv with one of the biggest drone and missile attacks of the war the same night as his conversation with Mr. Trump.
The only surprise here is that Mr. Trump seems surprised. The Russian has been consistent in saying that he will continue the war until he achieves his political and military goals. That means eliminating what he calls the “root causes” of the conflict, which is an independent Ukraine. He wants Kyiv under his dominion the way Belarus is.
He also thinks he’s winning the war, and that he will gain even more territory if Mr. Trump stops the delivery of U.S. weapons to Ukraine. The White House last week confirmed that it has put U.S. arms deliveries on pause. And if Mr. Trump thought that would placate Mr. Putin, it didn’t. It probably had the opposite effect by making the Russian believe he can keep fighting without paying a higher price.
The main question about the Russia-Ukraine war since Mr. Trump took office a second time is whether he would go to Plan B, or merely wash his hands of Ukraine. He sometimes talks as if he wants to do the latter, but then some part of him seems to recognize that he’ll take much of the blame if Kyiv falls.
Mr. Trump has ready options. One is to restore the weapons deliveries already promised to Ukraine and begin to work with Congress on sending more. Another is to declare his support for the Lindsey Graham-Richard Blumenthal bill that would impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil and don’t aid Ukraine. It has 84 co-sponsors, and the Senate could send a message by voting this week.
Mr. Putin thinks he can make President Trump look plaintive and weak, and then get away with it as Russia swallows Ukraine. If the Russian is right, much of the U.S. deterrence benefit of the Iran strike will vanish.
