US President Donald Trump appeared to take a combative tone with Kyiv's key European supporters, reportedly telling them they should put more financial pressure on Russia and its main ally, China, to force the Kremlin to end its war on Ukraine.
European and other leaders, meeting in Paris for a summit of the so-called Coalition of the Willing -- a group of 30 nations backing Kyiv -- spoke with Trump by phone on September 4.
“President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war -- as Russia received 1.1 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in fuel sales from the EU in one year," Reuters quoted an unnamed White House official as saying.
The actual amount is much higher. A report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said the value of EU imports of Russian fossil fuels totaled 21.9 billion euros ($23.6 billion) in the third year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The White House official added that Trump also said in the phone call that "European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia's war efforts," Reuters reported.
Trump, who spoke to the European leaders following the Paris gathering, did not personally comment directly on the coalition summit. But in remarks to reporters later he said, "Yeah, I will," when asked if he planned to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future.
The Search For Security Guarantees
Europe has attempted since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine to free itself of reliance on Russia for energy supplies. The European Commission has proposed legislation to phase out EU imports of Russian oil and gas by January 1, 2028.
Hungary and Slovakia, both led by nationalist leaders with close ties to the Kremlin, have continued to import Russian energy products, despite the EU moves at diversification.
The White House remarks come after French President Emmanuel Macron -- a leader of the Coalition of the Willing along with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer -- said 26 countries had agreed to take part in post-war security guarantees for Ukraine and that US support for the plan would be finalized in the coming days.
Leaders from around 30 of Ukraine's Western allies met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the guarantees for the war-torn country to follow any peace deal reached with Russia to end Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II.
Macron added that a few countries of the coalition were still finalizing their plans. The coalition that joined the Paris talks included some 30 nations backing Ukraine, mainly European but also Canada, Australia, and Japan.
Macron said that 26 countries "have committed themselves to deploying troops as a reassurance force in Ukraine or to be present on the ground, at sea, or in the air."
The forces would not be deployed on the front line, he said, but in areas yet to be decided upon.
"In the coming days, we will finalize American support for these security guarantees. The United States, as I said, was involved in all stages of the process," Macron said.
The United States has yet to commit to a clear post-war role, although most participants regard Washington's participation as crucial to backstopping the allies' efforts.
Russia has rejected the idea of European troops on the ground in Ukraine, with Putin warning that Moscow is willing to "resolve all our tasks militarily" if an acceptable peace agreement cannot be found.
Early on September 5, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again rejected the possibility of foreign troops being part of security-guarantee plans for Ukraine.
"Can Ukraine's security guarantees be ensured and provided by foreign, especially European and American, military contingents? Definitely not, they cannot. This ...would be acceptable to our country," he told Russian state media.
Trump has made ending Russia's war in Ukraine a top priority of his administration, but he has also demanded that Europe take on more of the burden, especially the financial costs related to arms supplies to Ukraine.
The US president, who has often spoken glowingly of the Russian leader, has grown increasingly frustrated by Putin's refusal to accept a cease-fire, to meet with Zelenskyy, or to cease his forces' deadly air attacks on Ukrainian civilian sites.
Trump has also, at times, criticized Zelenskyy for refusing to consider ceding any Ukrainian sovereign territory to Russia as part of a potential peace deal.
Zelenskyy, speaking at a joint news conference with Macron, underlined the importance of US involvement in any post-war security guarantees for his country.
"It is important that the United States is with us. We talked with President Trump today. Many thanks for his involvement," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy and Macron also lamented Putin's refusal to meet with the Ukrainian president. Putin has often labeled Zelenskyy, the elected leader of his country, as an illegitimate president.
"If Russia continues to refuse concrete peace discussions...we will take additional sanctions in conjunction with the United States of America," Macron said. "This is also what President Trump expressed earlier during this call."
Zelenskyy rejected remarks out of the Kremlin that Putin would be willing to meet Zelenskyy in the Russian capital.
"Putin wants to meet with me in Moscow. That means Russia does not want to have a meeting," Zelenskyy said.
Peskov told Interfax on September 5 that there were no plans for talks between Putin and Trump and that the level of Russia's current negotiating is already "quite high," indicating there were no thoughts of upgrading participants to the presidential level.
As the politicians spoke, Russian drones killed at least three people and injured three others late on September 4 in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine's, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said.
Synyehubov wrote on Telegram that two 40-year-old men and a 24-year-old woman were killed by a Russian drone attack. He said the men were killed while working as part of a road construction crew in the village of Khotimlya.
