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Today at 10 a.m. Washington time, Donald Trump will speak with Vladimir Putin. The topics of the call, described on Saturday on social media by the American president: "Ending the 'bloodshed' that claims the lives of over 5,000 Russians and Ukrainians every week; and trade." The next day, at Villa Taverna, the Roman residence of American Ambassador Tilman Fertitta, there was a meeting between Vice President JD Vance, smiling, accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Ukrainian leader Zelensky.
The two American envoys have also met with many other international leaders on the sidelines of the Pope's Mass. The meeting in Rome had been long in the making by several governments — Zelensky, of course, but also the British, French and German — long before Trump's surprise announcement of the phone call with Putin. The many negotiators heard the same key concept from Rubio on Saturday and Sunday: "We have to make it clear to Putin that we are serious. We are prepared to hit him with devastating sanctions."
Trump, in an interview with Fox News after returning from a trip to the Persian Gulf, also spoke about sanctions: "Frankly, I will impose them if we don't make a deal... They will be devastating for Russia, because they are struggling economically and the price of oil is low." Trump also reiterated that he intends to set a date to meet Putin.
The sanctions to which the Americans refer are related to a proposal presented by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, which has already collected 77 signatures and is expected to reach 80 (a large bipartisan majority): they would provide for severe sanctions on Russian oil exports and taxes on countries that buy Russian hydrocarbons and uranium (but these also include China and India, which makes it a major political problem).
"We have been clear with the Russians for 6-7 weeks that this Senate initiative is underway and that we cannot stop it, we cannot control it," Rubio said from Rome in an interview broadcast yesterday by CBS television. Congress and Republicans in particular have given us room to negotiate, but we warned the Russians two months ago that (this law) was coming..." Asked if he thinks Putin is buying time, Rubio replied: “That’s what we’re trying to figure out and we’ll find out very soon. At the meeting in Turkey, the Russians and the Ukrainians agreed that they would exchange written documents with their ideas for a ceasefire. If those ideas are realistic and reasonable, there will be progress; if they contain demands that we know are unachievable, we’ll make a different assessment. On the one hand, we’re trying to achieve peace in a bloody and costly conflict, and patience is required, but on the other hand, we don’t have time to waste on endless talks.”
This approach is very popular with Zelensky, but Rubio and Vance have been unable to assure either the Ukrainian leader or the Europeans that Trump will use the threat of sanctions in the phone call with Putin. Precisely for this reason, German Chancellor Merz has come out with an official statement, stating that the Europeans should have a conversation with Trump before the US president speaks to Putin. Giorgia Meloni spoke by phone with Trump on Saturday, according to diplomatic sources cited by the Adnkronos agency.
In general, Europeans in Rome conveyed to the two Americans a certain skepticism about the outcome of the Trump-Putin phone call. Skepticism shared by Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, and Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister. Both met with Zelensky; Carney also met with Vance.
Canada and Australia were among the first countries to offer soldiers for a military mission in Ukraine. Meanwhile, from Washington, the special envoy for Russia, Steve Witkoff, told ABC television that the call would be very useful "in understanding where we are and how to bring these negotiations to a close. It will be a successful call... They know each other, the president is determined to finish this issue... if he can't do it, no one else can." /Corriere della Sera
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