Aides push Trump to adopt tougher approach with Moscow

In a rare public criticism Donald Trump said Putin was chiefly to blame for the Ukraine war but Marco Rubio and Keith Kellogg want him to be more sceptical of Moscow’s desire for peace.

Donald Trump speaks at a cabinet meeting as Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens. Picture; AP.

Several senior aides to President Trump are advising him to be more sceptical of Moscow’s desire for peace with Ukraine, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to show genuine interest in halting the fighting.

The group, which US officials said includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, has recommended more caution when dealing with Putin and for a harder line against Moscow’s demands for territorial concessions from Kyiv.

Trump, however, is still siding with envoy Steve Witkoff, who thinks Putin wants to make peace after meeting with him twice in Moscow, the officials said.

But Russia has rebuffed Trump’s call for a ceasefire and slow-walked his drive for a partial suspension of the fighting, playing for time as it presses its battlefield gains and strives for maximum concessions in negotiations.

Trump is hoping to halt the Ukraine war in part to clear away a major obstacle to a broader rapprochement with the Kremlin. He has at times appeared impatient with Putin, but he hasn’t followed through on his threat to impose new sanctions on Russian oil exports.

Even Trump advisers who favour a tougher approach toward Moscow support his goal of stopping the three-year war. But Russia’s ballistic missile attack Sunday that killed 34 civilians and injured another 100 in the Ukrainian city of Sumy underscored the differences among Trump’s senior advisers.

Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the White House. Picture; AFP.

In comments Monday to reporters from the Oval Office, Trump called the attack a “mistake.” When pressed by reporters about who was responsible, he blamed former President Joe Biden for “letting the war happen.”

Kellogg said Sunday in written statements that the Russian attack “crosses any line of decency,” while Rubio labelled it “horrifying” and “tragic.”

In a rare criticism of the Russian leader, Trump said that Putin was chiefly to blame for the war, along with Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “I want to stop the killing, and I think we’re doing well in that regard,” Trump added. “I think you’ll have some very good proposals very soon.”

During White House deliberations about whether the US should increase sanctions on Russia to force it to negotiate, Rubio and Kellogg have advised Trump to be more wary of Putin’s diplomatic intentions, the officials said.

Zelensky said Monday that Putin aims to continue the war because “in Moscow, they are not afraid. If there is no strong enough pressure on Russia, they will keep doing what they are used to – they will keep waging war.” “The missile attack on Sumy is a clear and stark reminder of why President Donald Trump’s efforts to try and end this terrible war comes at a crucial time. Our hearts go out to the victims, their loved ones, and all those impacted,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.

Daniel Fried, a former senior State Department official, said the State and Treasury departments were preparing options to increase sanctions on Russia. But “all that means is that they now think they have the political cover or the policy cover to look at this in the event that Trump actually decides that he’s had enough of Putin,” he said.

The State Department and Treasury Department declined to comment. Kellogg didn’t return requests for comment.

On April 1, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, S.C.) and other lawmakers introduced legislation targeting Russia’s oil and energy exports should Moscow fail to make peace with Ukraine, disregarding a request from the White House to hold off, congressional aides said. An administration official confirmed the delay request, noting the administration wanted to maintain a leverage point during negotiations with Russia.

Graham said at least 50 senators were supporting the measure during a private dinner this month with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, also attended by Witkoff, according to congressional aides.

Trump’s attempt to reset relations with Russia has been tried by many of his predecessors, all of whom became disillusioned at the meagre results, said Thomas Graham, former senior director for Russian affairs on former President George W. Bush’s NSC.

Moscow wants to annex swathes of Ukraine’s territory and to install a pro-Russian government to rule over what remains – goals that haven’t changed since its invasion in 2022, he said.

Trump said during the presidential campaign that he could compel Putin and Zelensky to stop fighting within 24 hours of re-entering the Oval Office. Kellogg later extended the deadline to Trump’s first 100 days, which arrives on April 30.

“We will know soon enough – in a matter of weeks, not months – whether Russia is serious about peace or not,” Rubio said this month in Brussels. “I hope they are. It would be good for the world if that war ended, but obviously we have to test that proposition.”

Dow Jones