There are different views on the policy towards Russia and Ukraine in the US administration, but President Donald Trump is obviously more focused on the opinion of his special envoy Steve Whitkoff rather than on the supporters of a tougher line towards Russia, The Wall Street Journal wrote on 15 April, citing sources among US officials.
According to the piece, all members of the administration support Trump’s idea of the need to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. At the same time, there are different opinions on how to achieve this. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Representative for Ukraine Keith Kellogg are reportedly in favour of taking a tougher stance on Moscow’s demands for territorial concessions from Kiev and have urged Trump to be more cautious and sceptical of Moscow’s position.
Trump, however, is said to be more inclined to trust Steve Whitkoff, who has had direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the article. According to the WSJ, Whitkoff is convinced of Putin’s sincere desire to end the war.
Officially, Moscow says it seeks peace, but on its own terms, which include not only Ukraine’s relinquishment of occupied Crimea and four regions that Moscow claims to have illegally annexed without fully controlling, but also a refusal to join NATO and likely other concessions.
Trump has said several times recently that Russia needs to move from words to deeds and show its desire for peace. He has not ruled out tougher sanctions against Russia. At the same time, when asked directly whether he would impose new sanctions in connection with the Russian strike on Sumas, which killed 35 people on 13 April, he answered in the negative, saying that tough sanctions are already in place against Russia.
Commenting on the Sumas strike the US president had earlier suggested it could have been a “mistake”, while Kellogg and Rubio explicitly condemned Russia for it.
In recent days, the back-and-forth controversy between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Trump administration has resumed. In an interview with CBS, Zelensky said pro-Russian narratives are prevalent in the United States and noted that Vice President J.D. Vance in particular, in his view, questioned Russia’s culpability in starting the war in Ukraine.
Trump sharply criticised CBS and also said that not only Russian President Vladimir Putin, who unleashed the war, was responsible for it, but also Zelensky and Trump’s predecessor as US president, Joe Biden, who, according to Trump, did nothing to avoid it. Vance, for his part, said that the dialogue the Trump administration is having with Russia does not mean supporting Moscow in the war.
“It’s absurd for Zelensky to say to a government that is now supporting his government and his war effort that we are somehow on Russia’s side,” said Vance, who was previously one of the active participants in the White House controversy with Zelensky in late February.