Trump compares Ukraine Russia conflict with children

Trump compares Ukraine Russia conflict with children

For months President Donald Trump expressed various degrees of optimism regarding his ability to solve the conflict in Ukraine. But stalling progress, increasingly Deadly drone attacks and unchanged negotiating positions seem to demand. On Thursday, Trump used a striking analogy to admit that the fights are far from over and that he did not think at the moment.

Trump compares the conflict with a children's fight

"Sometimes you see two little children who argue like crazy," said Trump in the Oval Office, while his German counterpart Friedrich "> Merz Still watched. "They hate each other, they argue in the park and you try to pull them apart. They don't want to be separated. Sometimes it is better to let them fight for a while and then pull them apart."

The change in Trump's attitude

In this comparison-the Trump, as he said, directly to the Russian President Wladimir Putin during her 75-- Telephone calls delivered on Wednesday - Trump does not see himself as a simple, but rather as a referee who makes a conflict.

It was an open admission for Trump, the verbal equivalent to raise your hands with a problem that he cannot solve. Trump's development - from the promise to end the war in one day, to the comparison of looking at the warring parties like children while playing on an ice rink - is frustrating for him. He hesitated to impose new sanctions against Moscow, for fear of pushing Putin from the negotiating table. In addition, he has not approved a new military aid for Ukraine, hoping that a quick war ending does not require this.

expectations of international summit meetings

A time frame that he called for the evaluation of Putin's seriousness with regard to a war end - two weeks " - has not been repeated since then, and there seems to be little expectation that he will take measures if The self-imposed period expires on Monday. His laissez-fair attitude will be put to the test in the coming weeks, while Trump is planning a number of global summit meetings in which he is put under pressure by US allies.

He is expected to meet Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj personally at the G7 summit in Canada, which is scheduled for mid-June. In the past three years, the conference has served as a kind of control committee for western support from Ukraine, with Selenskyj participating as a guest to reaffirm his aid claims. This year, however, the conference is likely to be very different. Trump's advisor indicate that there is little expectation that he will announce new sanctions against Russia in Alberta.

The pressure on the US position

A NATO summit a few weeks later, American support for Ukraine will also put the spotlight in the spotlight. The NATO leadership focused briefly and strongly on increasing the defense spending of the Member States in order to avoid open discussions with a US president who has questioned the importance of the alliance. Nevertheless, Trump's current position on Ukraine could raise existential questions for leaders who want to support Trump's attempts to negotiate a ceasefire.

The attitude that Trump expressed on Thursday may not be its final. A few moments after his comparison to "let it fight for a while", he insisted that he was "to stop the killing". Nevertheless, his comments reflected a new level of resignation in relation to his perspectives on the end of the war and an alienation from the conflict that he once promised to solve.

Trump's unconventional views

"You fight, fight, fight," he said. "Sometimes you let her fight for a while." The insensitive tone was similar to what he described on Wednesday his phone call with Putin when - without comment - he explained the Russian leader's decision that he had to react to the bold drone attack of Ukraine at the weekend.

Trump did not comment on whether he warned Putin or encouraged him to calibrate his answer. He also did not give up a specific opinion on the actions of Ukraine. His visitor in the Oval Office on Thursday tried to promote a more optimistic perspective. Merz mentioned the anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy-a turning point in World War II-as an example of "when the Americans ended a war in Europe".

Trump was initially not moved by the comparison. "It was not a pleasant day for you," he joked, referring to the defeat of the German National Socialists. However, Merz continued to speak and emphasized that the American intervention was "the liberation of my country from the Nazi dictatorship", which parallel to today's war. "We know what we owe you," he said. "But that's the reason why I say that America is again in a very strong position to do something in this war and end this war."

Trump did not seem to be particularly moved. He held back to promise new sanctions against Russia - something that European leaders have been pushing him on for weeks - and only said that he would know when the time was appropriate, but that he had not yet come. "It's in my head, the deadline," he said. He even indicated that he was ready to impose new punitive measures against Ukraine if the fights should not end. "We will be very, very, very hard, and that could apply to both countries to be honest," said Trump. "You already know it takes two to the tango."