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A defiant Vladimir Putin thumbed his nose at the West by embracing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping on Monday, leaving no sign of progress on Ukraine as President Trump’s peace deadline came and went.
The Russian president decried the “Euro-Atlantic” world order and glad-handed with Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi during a regional summit in China, while Mr. Trump enjoyed Labor Day golf outside Washington.
Mr. Trump offered only an oblique response to the remarkable scene in Tianjin, rebuking New Delhi on Truth Social over its purchases of Russian oil while defending his 50% tariffs on Indian imports - an attempt to reset trade balances and punish India for propping up Moscow’s economy.
Mr. Putin, who shared a hug and limo ride with Mr. Modi, said Monday he’d reached “understandings” with Mr. Trump during a recent Alaska meeting on the path to peace in Ukraine. Yet he offered no sign he planned to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The impasse left Mr. Zelenskyy wondering what was next for his country and whether the U.S. and Europe would crank up sanctions on Mr. Putin.
Mr. Trump has threatened “massive” sanctions and tariffs on Russia, but hasn’t pulled the trigger on them.
SEE ALSO: Trump lashes out over ‘one-sided’ trade with India as Narendra Modi embraces Putin, Xi
“Two weeks ago in Washington, it was stated that by this time the Russians should be ready for real negotiations — a meeting at the leaders’ level,” Mr. Zelenskyy said on X. “Ukraine is definitely ready for this. But the only thing Russia is doing is investing further in war.”
“Now, during his visit to China, Putin will once again try to wriggle out,” he said. “That is his number one sport.”
Mr. Trump has said that Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy must sit face-to-face to end the war that began with Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
After meeting with Mr. Putin in Alaska and Mr. Zelenskyy in Washington this month, Mr. Trump insisted a talk between the two would be possible within a couple of weeks. He began making arrangements, but no such meeting is imminent.
The Kremlin has outright rejected Mr. Trump’s proposal that Mr. Putin meet with Mr. Zelenskyy, saying Russia considers the Ukrainian leader “illegitimate.”
If anything, Russia has dialed up its attacks on Ukraine instead of signaling an eagerness to negotiate with Kyiv an end to the war. Some critics of Mr. Trump’s approach say Mr. Putin is stringing the U.S. along, so Washington should crack down with tougher sanctions.
SEE ALSO: Worse than Chernobyl? Russia-Ukraine war sparks fear of nuclear power plant catastrophe
“By letting this deadline for imposing costs on Russia come and go, President Trump is allowing President Putin to continue this effort to bomb Ukraine into submission. And it doesn’t appear that is going to change anytime soon,” Michael Carpenter, a senior director for Europe in the National Security Council during the Biden Administration, told MSNBC on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that if progress hadn’t been made by Monday, “the deadline set by President Trump, it means that once again President Putin played President Trump.”
The White House bristled at Mr. Macron’s comments, saying Mr. Trump has made more progress toward ending the Ukraine war in recent months than President Joseph R. Biden did in three years.
Europe is trying to take a bigger role in ending the Ukraine war, as the U.S. retreats from backstopping Kyiv with billions in direct funding.
Mr. Macron, Mr. Zelenskyy and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet Thursday to “take stock of the consequences to be drawn from Russia’s attitude, which stubbornly refuses peace.”
Mr. Trump is not expected to participate in the talks among a group of leaders dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said Sunday that potential security guarantees for Ukraine could include multinational troop deployments, with the U.S. providing support.
“President Trump reassured us that there will be [an] American presence as part of the backstop,” she told the Financial Times. “That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly said no U.S. troops would be on the ground in Ukraine.
But he did tell the Daily Caller over the weekend that he wouldn’t rule out sending American fighter jets to help European forces during peacekeeping missions after the guns had been lowered for good.
In the meantime, Mr. Trump is using economic levers to pressure Mr. Putin into ending the war.
Mr. Trump recently slapped an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods entering the U.S. as punishment for India’s purchases of discounted Russian oil. The new levy brought the tariff rate on Indian imports to a whopping 50%.
Mr. Trump defended those levies Monday by saying New Delhi closed off Indian markets and charged high tariffs on U.S. goods, even as it tapped into the rich American market as its biggest “client.”
“It has been a totally one-sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S.,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago.”
Critics of Mr. Trump fear the crackdown on India, a key strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific, will push New Delhi closer to China.
Mr. Modi shared warm handshakes with Mr. Xi and, like Mr. Trump weeks ago, shared a car ride with Mr. Putin.
Mr. Modi posted photographs of himself with Mr. Putin on social media and hailed their “excellent” meeting.
“Conversations with him are always insightful,” he wrote.
Mr. Xi, in remarks, urged regional partners to oppose a “Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and bullying.”
During his turn, Mr. Putin called for a new system that “would replace the outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, take into account the interests of the broadest possible range of countries, be truly balanced, and would not allow attempts by some states to ensure their security at the expense of others.”
He said the eastward expansion of NATO must stop for there to be a path to peace.
“In order for a Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis, which I have just mentioned and which I have repeatedly mentioned before, must be eliminated,” Mr. Putin said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has ground on for 3 1/2 years, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties and bitter fighting in Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions.
Russian forces have captured about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory during the conflict, and have said they should keep that in a peace deal.
But Mr. Zelenskyy has said caving to such demands would reward Russia’s imperialistic urges.
The Ukrainian president even hinted Sunday at future strikes deep inside Russia, just days after a series of Russian bombardments in Kyiv and other parts of the country saw two dozen killed and diplomatic buildings belonging to Britain and the EU damaged.
Also Monday, an EU spokeswoman confirmed that Ms. von der Leyen’s plane had its GPS systems jammed in what was described as “blatant interference from Russia.”
Ms. von der Leyen was flying to Bulgaria on Sunday to visit EU states that border Russia when the incident occurred.
A European Commission spokeswoman said it is used to threats and intimidation as regular components of “Russia’s hostile behavior.”
“Of course,” she said, “this will only reinforce even further our unshakable commitment to ramp up defense capabilities and support for Ukraine.”
English (US) ·