Quotes
Trump—with his devotion to Putin, abandonment of Ukraine, and lies about history—is the antithesis of everything Ronald Reagan stood for,
Cheney, a fierce Trump critic, said in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday
He is aligning America with the enemies of the very freedom that generations have fought and died to defend,
Cheney wrote of Trump
President Trump is focused on ... ending the fighting, going to a ceasefire and having a broader agreement. That started with this call with President Putin last week, he immediately had a call with President Zelensky. They have a term for this in diplomacy, called shuttle diplomacy. I don't think anyone should be really, I don't know, criticizing the president for trying to drive this to a diplomatic solution."
National security adviser Mike Waltz, involved in the U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, told reporters WednesdayShe's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face."
In November, Trump said of Cheney
Why should dominance be handed over to a country that is an aggressor, a violator of international law, and the author of aggression against Ukraine,
Podolyak said
Today I heard, 'Oh, well, we weren't invited.' Well, you've been there for three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal."
Trump rebuked Kyiv's complaints, stating
When the US mentions future European participation, it doesn't imply genuine involvement. Once the US and Russia reach a consensus, they can persuade Europe and Ukraine to accept the outcome, addressing some of their security concerns,
Zhang saidPutin fiercely hates Mr. Zelenskyy. He understands that he cannot break him. He has been unable to do so for three years,
Podolyak saidThese US-Europe differences may reduce the conflict's intensity, but future disagreements still require consultation to resolve."
Zhao saidTo me, the concept of 'peace through strength,' which the American administration promotes, sounds strange,
he said,For Europe, the conflict is an existential matter, while for Trump, it's a matter of cost-benefit,
he saidFor the Ukrainians, there’s too much uncertainty now,
an American adviser to Kyiv told POLITICO on condition of anonymity
We can do it the easy way, or the hard way — and the easy way is always better,
Trump warned in a message addressed directly to Putin on his social media site Truth SocialWe have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down to 4 percent approval rating.”
Their quandary has only been worsened by Trump’s remarks on Tuesday, when he saidTrump and Putin want Zelenskyy out — their alignment is worrisome,
a former Ukrainian minister told POLITICO, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freelyIn the worst case scenario, Ukraine will keep fighting. If their defenses crumble, I don't think that the American people want to see those pictures on television and to be held responsible,
Farkas said
Russia has won Round One,
U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Massachusetts Democrat who is a co-chair of the bipartisan House Ukraine caucus, told ReutersJust a practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory and there's going to be discussion of security guarantees,
he saidEurope is left without a choice. Abandoning support for Ukraine would mean surrendering on all fronts, and there is no need to talk about strategic independence, so Europe sees the outcome of the Ukraine crisis from a strategic and life-and-death perspective,
Jiang said
There are other parties that have sanctions, the European Union is going to have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed,
Rubio said on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia