US president admits to concern Russian counterpart does not want to ‘stop the war’ and ponders new approach to Moscow

US president admits to concern Russian counterpart does not want to ‘stop the war’ and ponders new approach to Moscow

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have sat down for a face-to-face talk in the opulent halls of a Vatican basilica to discuss a possible ceasefire, after which the US president accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of not wanting to “stop the war”.

The White House described Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian leader before Pope Francis’s funeral as “very productive”, while Zelenskyy said on X that the talk with the US president was symbolic and had the “potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”.

It was the first time that Zelenskyy and Trump had met face to face after a frosty February encounter in the White House where Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance, berated the Ukrainian leader and accused him of ingratitude for US aid.

    • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      Bare minimum, Orange Shitler has announced to the world he believes he can be manipulated.

      Can’t wait to hear how this is actually what strong men do from my relatives.

      • nico198X@feddit.nlEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        Wow, I knew Keiko was bad, but supporting Trump is a new low. You deserve better.

        • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
          0·
          3 months ago

          Now now, Keiko and Molly are perfectly respectable, perfectly happy patterns people.

          It’s the extended family that’s the problem… Also my parents. And in-laws.

          Basically my wife and I are the only sane ones.

  • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    I find it interesting that after one meeting with Zelenskyy in a neutral place, without any handlers present, that Trump has done such a sudden about face.

    Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Maybe it’s just that Trump’s tiny mind can only hold one thought at a time, so it fixates on the last thing that was said to him. But it’s also possible that he is being actively manipulated by foreign actors, and Zelenskyy just managed to pierce their control over Trump by staging this very private talk, in a public place, where he could be guaranteed that his message could be delivered directly.

    • Cyv_@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      0·
      3 months ago

      I think he probably has dementia. It makes it easier to have him do stupid shit, easier to influence, but also makes it harder to stop him once he fixates. Also easy to manipulate can very much backfire.

      Soon they’ll all be falling over themselves to appease the mad king. I hate this so much.

      I really hope we actually give Ukraine full fucking support. They deserve it.

    • arakhis_@feddit.org
      0·
      3 months ago

      trump literally the deep state controlled puppet conservatives are so scared about (hyper-rich control said administation)

    • Null User Object@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      Maybe it’s just that Trump’s tiny mind can only hold one thought at a time, so it fixates on the last thing that was said to him.

      There is no shortage of evidence to support this this conclusion.

      But it’s also possible that he is being actively manipulated by foreign actors

      This too. No reason both can’t be true at the same time.

    • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      That video of him sitting in his desk like a ignored elder while Elon(with his effin kid) talks to the media in the oval office gave me strong puppet vibes

    • Goretantath@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      Its a ploy to prevent being impeached, the protests are working and they are scared.

      • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
        0·
        3 months ago

        No, he’s just stupid. Zelensky got him alone and sold him on this and he talked to the source before he got back to his handlers. He’ll be straightened out again in a couple days.

    • hansolo@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      He only knows what the last convincing person said to him – IF – IF he’s had a sliver of doubt about Putin’s loyalty to HIM. Putin’s lack of giving T a ceasefire that T needs to appear to accomplish something does that.

      What’s funny is T is literally the last person in the country to get to this realization. But hey, maybe he got there, right?

    • atzanteol@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      Trump frequently comes away believingwhat the last person he spoke to said. It’s one of his defining characteristics. We’ll see how long this sticks.

    • ClanOfTheOcho@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      I was thinking that the sudden, impromptu nature of the Pope’s funeral left Putin unable to prep Trump full of disinformation just before.

      • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        No, the death itself and the plans for the funeral may have been sudden, but the Pope had been unwell for a while and I’m sure every government had a contingency plan to drop everything and go to the funeral.

        And Putin is ex-KGB (as if you could ever really be a “former” spy). If Putin really is advising Trump, you can be sure that he had a script all teed up for Trump, and Trump got his talking points before the trip.

        But the Vatican, at this particular event, is perhaps the only place in the world where Zelenskyy and Trump could have had this talk, without anyone else present.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      0·
      3 months ago

      Maybe it’s just that Trump’s tiny mind can only hold one thought at a time, so it fixates on the last thing that was said to him.

      You nailed it here. Nothing more to it.

  • CocaineShrimp@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Credit where credit is due - I really hope Trump starts seeing the light from this point forwards

    • blakenong@lemmings.worldEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      It’s so much more frightening to think that he actually doesn’t know what’s going on. That he doesn’t even have a poorly sketched plan. Could he really not have more than a day ahead?

  • Hikuro-93@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Yeah, but that’s this week’s statement. After you talk to Putin or your cheerleaders of chaos you’ll then condemn Zelensky and Ukraine again. Not a single own thought, only “he said, she said”.

    It’s like a child who can’t choose between two divorcing parents, where one tries to be reasonable and the other tries to poison you against the first one. “This week little Donny will stay with papa Putin, next week he’s gonna stay with papa Zelensky”. Meanwhile an unnamed soldier doesn’t know if he’s gonna live or die today, not knowing his life is being affected by these childish and ever-shifting geopolitics.

    Would you look at that. A POTUS, arguably the most influential seat on the planet, occupied by an empty shell of a puppet who doesn’t have a mind of his own, who needs to be told what to think.

    Until now any POTUS had, by default, the soft power and influence to make Russia back the fuck off. This one, however, is using that power in all the wrong ways, and achieving the opposite.

  • galanthus@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    Conducting that meeting in that place at such a time seems quite inappropriate and disrespectful.

    • ApexHunter@lemmy.ml
      0·
      3 months ago

      Perhaps, but I think Pope Francis would have given his blessing if there was even the slightest chance of it leading to a lasting peace.

    • Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      Sideline meetings happen all the time. It’s not a new thing. World leaders can show compassion for the deceased and handle their shit all in the same day.

    • Dzso@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      I’m pretty sure the dead Pope wouldn’t ask for more respect to be given to him than to the living people of Ukraine and to the thousands of Ukrainian people who have died to defend a free Europe.