Trump keeps saying he wants peace—his actions tell a different story. After talking to Putin for two hours, he refuses to impose new sanctions on Russia. Europe and Ukraine need to stop pretending this is about peace. It’s not. It’s betrayal dressed up as diplomacy—and all about money, not morals.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 08:23

Trump talks "peace" with Putin, but it’s just more empty showmanship. After a 2-hour call, he handed the Kremlin everything it wanted—no new sanctions, no pressure, just vague talk and zero spine.

It’s not diplomacy—it’s Putin-pleasing.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 08:41

For Trump, Monday’s call with Putin evoked the hope of a bright future of “largescale TRADE” between Russia and US, “when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over”.

Ukraine and Europe felt they were being abandoned.

Our analysis, with crack @financialtimes.com team. Free link: on.ft.com/3S9tGvd

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— Christopher Miller (@christopherjm.ft.com) 20 May 2025 at 05:12

Kremlin spokesman Peskov: "There are no and can’t be any timelines for agreeing on a peace memorandum with Ukraine." He claims contacts with Ukraine have been resumed and are ongoing, and that a potential Zelensky–Putin meeting was discussed during Trump’s call.

Talk a lot, say nothing.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 09:12

🇱🇹 Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė on Trump’s call with Putin: “It feels like a broken record—talks full of vague optimism but no real change. Putin benefits from stalling, not peace. Sanctions, not sweet talk, are the real path forward.”

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 09:07

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he would not impose additional sanctions on Russia, as he believes in the possibility of reaching agreements and making progress.

Or maybe he just needs to talk less bullshit with a murderer on the phone.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 10:16

Kallas stated that Brussels "did not see any pressure" from the U.S. on Russia during the negotiations on Ukraine.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 10:48

What does Trump really want? He promised “turkey time” toughness with Putin—but delivered only more talk, no consequences, The Economist.

Trump calls the war a “bloodbath”. But he seems blind to the reality that just wooing Mr Putin will not stop it.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 10:03

🇪🇺 Kallas: "We need everyone on board, and we know that USA is also working on sanctions against Russia if they do not agree. And we clearly saw from yesterday's call that they do not agree. It takes time, it is difficult and it is becoming more difficult. But I do not think we have a choice."

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— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 10:53

🇩🇪 Germany’s Defence Minister Pistorius says Putin is clearly playing for time.

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— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 09:28

The EU has approved its 17th sanctions package against Russia — nearly 200 shadow fleet ships targeted, plus new measures on hybrid threats and human rights. More sanctions are coming.

"The longer Russia’s war continues, the stronger our answer," EU High Representative Kallas said.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 11:17

The UK government has announced expanded sanctions against Russia in response to a massive attack on Ukraine on the night of May 18, during which the Russian army used a record number of attack drones. A total of 100 further sanctions will target Russia's military, energy and financial sectors.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 12:42

74% of Ukrainians trust President Zelensky — the highest trust level among all Ukrainian politicians, according to a May 2025 KIIS poll. His trust rating has increased since February. Notably, 73% of those who trust Poroshenko also trust Zelensky, showing strong overlap even across political divides

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 10:06

Ukraine is offering investment and cooperation to the U.S. manufacturer of the Patriot air defense system, per the Ministry of Defense. Defense Minister Umerov recently met with Raytheon VP Joe DeAntona to discuss expanding collaboration.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 12:31

“We clearly see that Trump wants out of the talks. The aim is to keep the Americans in the talks and to find some common view [on] how to secure a ceasefire.”

Europe races to keep Donald Trump involved in Ukraine-Russia talks
w/ @henryjfoy.ft.com

www.ft.com/content/7173... via @financialtimes.com

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— Christopher Miller (@christopherjm.ft.com) 20 May 2025 at 12:11

‼️🇺🇸 The Trump administration has devised plans to spend up to $250 million earmarked for foreign assistance to fund instead the removal and return of people from active conflict zones, including 700,000 Ukrainian and Haitian migrants who fled to the US, - WP

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— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 11:36

Russia's latest Shahed kamikaze drones are now equipped with a new 90-kilogram warhead, effectively turning them into weapons of mass destruction — they are capable of destroying entire floors of buildings and causing maximum damage to their targets.
defence-ua.com/weapon_and_t...

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 12:47

Ukrainian President Zelensky and five other European leaders joined a conference call with President Trump immediately after his call with Vladimir Putin on Monday hoping to hear that Putin had agreed to a ceasefire — or the U.S. would impose penalties on him for refusing to do so.

• Instead, Trump said Putin had agreed to negotiate, stressed the U.S. wouldn't be involved in those negotiations, and pushed back against the idea of imposing sanctions on Putin at the current time, two sources who were on the call and a third source briefed on the call told Axios.

Why it matters: Trump gave the impression he was getting closer to withdrawing from the issue altogether. Some leaders on the call seemed "surprised" or "shocked," the sources said.

• "I think something's going to happen. And if it doesn't, I just back away and they're going to have to keep going. Again, this was a European situation, and should have remained a European situation," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office several hours after his calls.

How it happened: Trump and Zelensky had a brief call Monday morning, and Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart what he should tell Putin, the sources said.

• Zelensky was happy Trump called him to consult. He requested that Trump demand an immediate ceasefire, threaten new sanctions against Russia, and offer no concessions to Putin without consulting Ukraine, the sources say.

Behind the scenes: When the call with Putin ended, Trump called Zelensky again. This time the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Finland and the European Commission were also on the line.

• "The second call was longer and of a different character than the first one," Zelensky said later.
• While a European source on the call told Axios it was "constructive," another source said Zelensky felt it was "bad." The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump told the leaders that Putin agreed to start direct negotiations on a ceasefire immediately. A source on the call said there were a few seconds of puzzled silence.

• Zelensky then pointed out that Putin had previously agreed to negotiate, and the first round of ceasefire talks took place on Friday in Istanbul. Trump didn't directly respond, the sources said.
• The sources said Zelensky and several other leaders on the call told Trump it had been his idea to start the peace talks with an immediate 30-day ceasefire.

Friction point: Other European leaders on the call asked about the possibility of U.S. sanctions against Russia, but Trump said he didn't think was a good idea and stressed that he thought Putin wanted a deal.

• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni jumped in to ask why there couldn't be a ceasefire for at least two weeks heading into the talks, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz asked what concessions Russia was willing to make, the sources said.

• Trump told the group Putin would present a "peace memo" with his terms for a ceasefire and for ending the war. A source on the call said Trump told Zelensky and the European leaders he asked Putin to present "something people can agree to" and not a proposal that will be rejected immediately.
• Zelensky said previous rounds of negotiations with Putin, including last week, didn't produce anything and stressed that if Trump doesn't push, Putin won't move, the sources said.

Between the lines: Leaders on the call seemed surprised that Trump seemed relatively content with what he heard from Putin, and presented it as a new development, even though the Russian leader did not seem to have changed his position at all, the sources said.

What to watch: Trump told the group that Russia and Ukraine should conduct bilateral direct negotiations without any third party mediators because the parties best understand all the details of the conflict.

• Meloni and Merz said the U.S. and European countries need to be involved in the negotiations. "Someone needs to be a judge," Meloni said. Merz proposed holding a meeting with all the parties present.

Where it stands: On the call, Finland President Alexander Stubb asked Trump what the next steps were. "I don't know. Someone has to come out and say whether the negotiations are going well or badly, and then we'll decide what to do," Trump said.

Trump's Deference To Putin Stunned European Leaders On Call

Trump is an authoritarian in search of like-minded people, and Putin perfectly fits the bill. Putin runs a controlled democracy (controlled as in, the opposition is controlled by the government, making actual opposition almost impossible) and by all the actions of Trump and what was in Project 2025 it looks like he wants to turn the US into a similar system. The main difference between the two is that Trump wants immigrants out while Putin welcomes them.

My god, by now they should simply cut out the middleman and the EU should entirely replace the US as partner for the peace talks. Oh, and maybe add then points like: "Take the peace deal or Finland takes it's territory lost in 1940 back. And if that's still not enough, Germany will take back Königsberg." (jk)

The Russian army is depleted, they still get enough men to fight but but their bases are increasingly devoid of any armored equipment and artillery systems. Giving Ukraine all the equipment that they can make use of will ensure that Russia can't win the war, and with it's economy overheating it will get more and more difficult for Putin to fund the war. Putin can't get out.

The parallels to several authoritarian governments get larger and larger...

Russia has moved to classify key demographic statistics following a dramatic collapse in its birth rate, which has plunged to levels not seen since the late 18th or early 19th century, according to a leading Russian demographer. Projections estimate that Russia's population will fall to about 132 million in the next two decades. The United Nations has predicted that in a worst-case scenario, by the start of the next century, Russia's population could almost halve to 83 million.

In March, Raksha said Russia might be seeing its lowest birth rates since the late 1700s. Births dropped by 6 to 7 percent in February and by 3 to 4 percent in March, the demographer said. In the first quarter of 2025, between 293,000 and 294,000 births were registered in Russia—2.4 percent lower than the first quarter of last year, he said. "March 2025 likely recorded the lowest number of births on the territory of today's Russian Federation since the late 18th to early 19th century," Raksha wrote on his Telegram channel.

Russia Classifies Population Data as Birth Rates Plunge to 200-Year Low - Newsweek

Just in time for all that glorious trade with America, a dying and bankrupt country.

Just for the record, I don't think there's very much interest in regaining our lost territory here in Finland due to decades of decay under Russian rule. It would probably be incredibly expensive to have that territory again.

The less manpower Russia has for its military, the safer the world will be. That part of this makes me very happy, especially considering the drop sounds like it could be fairly rapid.

Sounds like Trump is increasingly taking Europe into account, and could likely end up handing the negotiations over to them.

If he is going to step aside while keeping the sanctions and agreeing to at least sell weapons to Ukraine through Europe, then it would be for the better.

But if he leaves the talks, drops the sanctions and stops all US weapons and intel from reaching Ukraine, then it would be bad and I hope Europe and Ukraine are still preparing for the worse.

If you want peace in Ukraine, pressure Russia. If you want war, don’t. The Trump people only make concessions. Which is exactly what the Kremlin expected. The US through its astounding weakness is making the war longer and bloodier than it has to be.

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— Timothy Snyder (@timothysnyder.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 15:32

After Trump’s call with Putin, Russia resumed issuing ultimatums—demanding Ukraine withdraw from Kherson & Zaporizhzhia, halt mobilization, and ban Western aid, per BILD citing intel.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 16:06

🇺🇦🇮🇹 President Zelensky reports a productive call with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. They discussed yesterday’s call with Donald Trump and EU leaders, agreed to coordinate next steps, and explored potential platforms for talks with Russia — stressing the need for a ceasefire and honest diplomacy.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 13:31

Axios: After speaking with Putin, Trump told Zelensky & EU leaders that Russia is “ready” for talks — but the U.S. won’t join and sanctions aren’t needed because “Putin wants a deal.”

Weak spine 🙃

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 20 May 2025 at 13:37

🤡 Medvedev: Many in Russia like the path of Kyiv's unconditional surrender much more than other options.

— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 20 May 2025 at 14:59