US President Donald Trump has taken a tougher stance on the Russian leader, and Ukraine’s European allies say the shift in rhetoric is partly theirs.
Trump made a rare sharp statement about Putin, suggesting that “maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just leading me by the nose.”
Then, on May 1, a mineral resources deal with Ukraine was signed, which for the first time explicitly mentions a “full-scale Russian invasion,” signaling a tightening of the Trump administration’s rhetoric.
In London and Paris, leaders Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have been actively trying to persuade Trump to ease pressure on Zelensky and direct his anger at Putin, who they say is manipulating him. The US president’s public attacks on Putin have given diplomats in Paris and London a chance to take a little bit of a sneer, as their efforts over the past three months have begun to bear fruit, says Esther Webber, a senior correspondent for POLITICO.
“The US president’s change of course comes after months of careful coordination between Starmer and Macron, who have used their White House channels to send a message that the Russian president cannot be trusted,” Webber adds.
British Foreign Secretary David Lemmy recently said he has spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio 13 times this year, while Starmer and Trump have spoken “almost” as many times.
Behind the scenes, on the British side, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, a seasoned negotiator, and Defence Secretary John Healey, a key figure, are playing a key role in the process, supported by the US ambassador to the UK, Mark Burnett.
Britain and France have consistently stressed that Putin is “despising Trump by repeatedly violating the ceasefire he claims he is enforcing.”
They see this as a particularly sensitive moment because Trump “is very sensitive to the loss of life — it really concerns him.”
A French official said that “by now Trump has understood” that Putin cannot be trusted.
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