According to the Wall Street Journal on May 22, this information was given during President Donald Trump's phone call on May 19 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellorrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Although Trump has repeatedly affirmed publicly that he believes President Putin wants peace, this is the first time he has admitted the opposite to his allies.
According to three sources quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Trump said after a two-hour phone call with Putin that he concluded that the Russian leader was not ready to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Initially, in a phone call with European leaders on May 18, Mr. Trump left open the possibility of sanctions if Russia refused to cease fire. However, on May 19, he changed his views and said he wanted to quickly promote low-level negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the Vatican.
Although he said the phone call with Mr. Putin took place in "great spirit and atmosphere", Mr. Trump still did not make a clear commitment to the role of the US in upcoming negotiations.
Some European leaders have suggested that the negotiations in the Vatican should lead to an unconditional ceasefire, but Trump has opposed using the word unconditionally, saying he has never used that phrase, despite a 30-day ceasefire on social media on May 8.
Europe has stepped up diplomatic efforts to pressure Trump on Russia, especially after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took power and took a tougher stance on Moscow.
On May 10, European leaders including German Chancellor Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Chancellor Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited Zelensky in Kiev, calling on Ukraine to support Trump's ceasefire initiative. From Kiev, they called Mr Trump directly to confirm Europe and Ukraine's support for that call.
Under increasing pressure from both Europe and Washington, Mr. Putin proposed resuming direct talks with Ukraine for the first time in 3 years. A meeting was held in Istanbul, but Mr. Putin did not attend and only sent a low-level delegation, repeating the conditions denied by Ukraine.
Despite the disappointment of not making significant progress, European leaders said the effort had helped clarify Mr. Putin's true views and determined that Europe would have to play a key role in supporting Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump stated: This is not my conflict. We were caught up in something we didnt should be involved in.
