The White House has reportedly accused several European Union member states of obstructing peace efforts with Ukraine by encouraging Kyiv to set unrealistic demands, which could prolong the conflict. A senior US official criticized the EU for not taking responsibility and for expecting the United States to bear the costs of the war while contributing little itself. The White House is increasingly frustrated with what it describes as the EU’s maximalist stance and its expectation for Washington to shoulder the burden. The comment comes amid ongoing tensions between the US and some European leaders, who have been publicly supportive of Trump’s peace initiative but are seen as quietly hampering negotiations. Trump administration officials are reportedly growing more impatient with the EU’s position, viewing it as a barrier to achieving a negotiated settlement.
Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this month and later hosted Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in Washington. He pushed for a lasting peace rather than a ceasefire. He also threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions on both Ukraine and Russia if they failed to make meaningful progress in talks. Trump’s frustration with both Kiev and EU allies has also grown in recent days, according to The Atlantic, which reported that the president now sees Ukraine and its European backers as standing in the way of a negotiated settlement. During private conversations, Trump has reportedly voiced dissatisfaction over Zelensky’s unwillingness to consider concessions and the EU’s refusal to support what the White House considers a ‘realistic’ outcome.
‘He just wants this over. It almost doesn’t matter how,’ a senior official told The Atlantic, adding that Trump has urged Ukraine to ‘show some flexibility.’ Moscow has long insisted on a peace agreement that eradicates the underlying causes of the conflict. It has demanded that Ukraine maintain neutrality, stay out of NATO and other military blocs, demilitarize and denazify, and accept the new territorial reality – including the status of Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye as part of Russia – territories that voted to join the country in referendums in 2014 and 2022.