NYT: Europe Is Playing The Long Game With Trump On Ukraine

• 5.09.2025, 12:15

European leaders are trying to show that Putin is not peace-minded.

European leaders, although they praised Donald Trump's efforts in August to quickly end the war in Ukraine, they still express skepticism about the reality of such a scenario. That's according to The New York Times.

So as the possibility of a quick end to the war fades, Europe is focused on keeping Trump on its side. The strategy of European leaders is now to convince Trump that it is Putin who is holding up the negotiation process. In particular and for this purpose, a meeting of the "Coalition of the willing" was held on Thursday, September 4.

Reporters note that although the U.S. side claims significant concessions in the position of the Russian Federation. But in practice, it does not yet look like Moscow is ready to negotiate. Particularly because Putin has refused to commit to a direct meeting with Zelensky.

"European leaders never believed Putin would meet with Zelensky. Putin doesn't even consider Ukraine a country. So they tried to use Putin's reluctance in their favor, using it to get new commitments from the White House on economic sanctions against Russia if Putin doesn't agree to talks soon," the publication writes.

Citing analysts, the publication notes that there are advantages for Europe in agreeing on a full security guarantee plan before Putin goes to talks. After all, having security guarantees could help Zelensky make tough decisions like ceding captured territories to Moscow.

"For Ukraine to end this war, it needs to be convinced that there will be no new war in the next few years," said Jana Pulierin, a senior policy scholar at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "To make that convincing, she needs certain assurances, certain guarantees."

But, she added, "95 percent of all of this is done to keep Trump happy and keep his seat at the table."