Trump Admits, Privately, Putin Not Ready for Peace, So What’s Next?
After the call between President Trump and Vladimir Putin on Monday, May 19th, Trump spoke to his European counterparts. According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump admitted to them that President Putin isn’t ready for the war to end in Ukraine because he believes he is winning. This is something the European leaders have been saying for months, but Trump finally admitted it as well, at least in private. Publicly, he continues to say that Putin wants the war to end and that Putin wants peace.
While the White House has disputed the claim that Trump admitted this on the call, witnesses back it up.
“One of the officials, who was on the call, said Trump began the discussion by saying, ‘I think Vladimir does not want peace.’”
While Trump now understands that Putin doesn’t want peace, he is not ready to impose any consequences on Russia for not seeking peace. Instead, he blessed Ukraine and Russia, continuing low-level discussions. These discussions will start in mid-June at the Vatican and will include Marco Rubio and Keith Kellogg. However, the negotiations will most likely not amount to anything since one participant at the table is not negotiating in good faith.
What does conservative media recommend that President Trump and Congress do now?
“Most Republicans in Congress want a good outcome for Ukraine, even if some have joined the witness protection program on the issue, and sanctions are the easy part. The harder fight will be another U.S. weapons aid package that Ukraine will inevitably need once its weapons start running low this summer. Lawmakers will have to start building the case.
… Continued pressure from Congress would show Mr. Putin that there’s still bipartisan support for Ukraine. It would also tell Mr. Trump that he would pay a political price if he tries to wash his hands of the conflict….This is a message [if Trump washes his hands of the conflict] that will extend the war, not end it…. Few forces sink presidencies faster than betrayal and national humiliation abroad
…. He [President Xi] will be more likely to think he can get away with snatching islands controlled by Taiwan…It’s past time for Congress to show it’s not a potted plant on foreign policy and move to pass secondary sanctions.” – The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, May 20, 2025
“If President Donald Trump wants lasting peace in Ukraine, he needs to unleash secondary sanctions on the countries keeping Vladimir Putin’s bloody war going…. Putin’s readout of the call still signaled that he’ll accept nothing less than domination of Ukraine: That’s what he means when he declares the overriding need ‘to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.’…In Vlad’s mind, the “root cause” of the war is Ukraine’s sovereignty, so “Russia is ready to work with Kyiv” toward peace only via Kyiv’s surrender
… Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has a solution primed and ready: A bill he introduced with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to impose a crippling a 500% tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium etc… That would slam China, which has kept Putin’s war machine chugging with those energy purchases and exporting hundreds of billions in products to Moscow, staving off catastrophic inflation and shortages.
Without that lifeline, Russia’s already limping economy would go kaput. Trump should give the go-ahead to start making China’s bankrolling of Moscow’s bloodlust hurt.” – The New York Post Editorial Board, May 19, 2025
“The man who instigated the war and who is the chief obstacle to peace is Vladimir Putin. Yet, this enemy of the West, murderer of dissidents, and serial perpetrator of wars of territorial aggrandizement has never been subjected to the same U.S. pressure campaign as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose fundamental offense is to be leading a country that his larger neighbor wants to subjugate.”
If the administration stipulated that if Putin doesn’t drop his maximalist demands — basically for a Ukraine that can’t defend itself — it will back Ukraine to the hilt, that might change his calculations.” – Rich Lowry, Editor and Chief, National Review, May 20, 2025
Conservative Media is unified in its response. Congress must pass “The Russian Sanctions Act of 2025”, and President Trump must use it to force Russia to the negotiating table. If this does not work, Trump should threaten to back Ukraine to the hilt with further weapons packages that would easily pass Congress with Trump’s backing. Only peace through strength will show Russia and China that they cannot subjugate their neighbors, whose only sins are wanting to preserve their sovereignty and borders.