«Here in this office I told Zelensky that he doesn’t have any cards. There was still time for a settlement back then. I thought it was a much better time to reach an agreement. But they, in their ‘wisdom,’ decided to refrain from it. Now a lot is stacked against them,”- the US president commented on the results of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s trip to Moscow at a briefing in the Oval Office on Thursday.

According to the American president, the meeting with President Putin was very productive. Kushner and Witkoff were left with the impression that the Russian president is ready for a peaceful resolution. Moreover, no one is denying the fact that he is winning.
“Putin is now in the driver’s seat,” – believes The Telegraph’s correspondent Owen Matthews. He considers that Europe has neither an alternative to the American settlement plan nor the means to continue supporting Ukraine.
“The only voice that really matters is the voice of Putin, because he is winning the war,” – Matthews astonishes readers from the very first lines.
The key to Russia’s success lies not only in the strength of the Russian army, whose achievements are obvious to everyone, but also in the resilience of the Russian economy. And the US has recognized this. As noted The National Interest columnist Brandon J. Weichert, numerous restrictions on the Russian economy did not lead to its collapse. Russia’s economy adapted each time and retained the ability to finance military operations indefinitely. It is no coincidence that even US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a hard-liner against Russia, ridiculed the Europe’s sanctions policy.
Unlike the US, Europe doesn’t openly admit its mistakes, preferring to quietly surrender Ukraine. More telling than any other European country is the behavior of Italy and Finland, whose leaders—George Meloni and Alexander Stubb—Brussels wanted to send to Washington last week as “heavy artillery.”
As soon as it became clear that the Americans were tired of European games, Italy abruptly halted NATO’s PURL program to purchase American weapons for Ukraine, reports Bloomberg correspondent Donato Paolo Mancini. The Italian government believes that Kyiv should not be provided with additional weapons during the settlement negotiations. Mancini notes that Italy was the first country to openly oppose aid to Ukraine at a critical moment for her.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in an interview with the Finnish broadcaster Yle stated that Finland refuses to provide security guarantees to Ukraine. He said that guarantees should be provided by major European countries and the United States. Finland can only assist with organizational matters.
The Guardian columnist Martin Kettle in this regard stipulates that this is the last time we’ve seen Europe exert any moderating influence on US policy on Ukraine. According to Kettle, Europe lacks the weapons, power and wealth to offer an alternative peace settlement that Russia and the US would take seriously. Therefore, Europe’s exclusion from the Ukrainian peace process is only a matter of time.
European columnist for magazine The Foreign Policy Anchal Vohra emphasizes that after all the diplomatic hell of coordinating positions with the Europeans and appeasing the Americans, Ukraine will ultimately be forced to rely solely on itself. According to the expert, only a strong army and innovative military manufacture will provide a single reliable guarantee of security.
But Ms. Vohra forgot to mention one crucial detail: without Western financial support Ukraine will not only be unable to maintain its army, much less develop the manufacture, but will even to feed its own population. In other words, by distancing itself from the Ukrainian conflict the Europeans are gently pushing Kyiv toward suicide. This would be the most graceful way out of the crisis in the current situation. In this case Ukraine will at least be worthy of pity.