Two meetings later, Trump is still facing difficult obstacles in the search for peace in Ukraine

Last Friday, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska for a summit, which was high in pomposity and distraction and low in diplomatic breakthroughs in the pursuit of ending war in Russia-Ukraine.

On Monday, six European leaders rushed to Washington to meet Trump and evaluate the consequences of this Putin meeting. While gathering in the White House was historic, it was also heavy in rhetoric and light on the tangible progress.

With a little showing two meetings at the top, the pressure is intensified by a president, who made an end to foreign wars a key promise of a campaign. But there were two potentially significant developments.

In the White House Confab on Monday, Trump seems open to providing US security guarantees for Ukraine if a deal is achieved. This is seen by Ukrainians and their European allies as an essential component for lasting peace.

On Tuesday morning, Trump has a little hedge, saying that US engagement could lead to “air support” and not US soldiers in Ukraine and that Europe will have to take on the greater part of the weight.

He also said that “arrangements” were made for a bilateral summit between Putin and Zelenski – although location and details remain much in the air – after which he would directly participate in a three -way meeting with the two men.

European leaders also want to end the fire before a bilateral meeting, something Trump said was not likely.

Yet, all the steps, however small to direct, the leader level between Zelenski and Putin, are an achievement.

The simple fact that yesterday’s meetings between Trump and Zelenski and the greater gathering of European leaders were held in a friendly, cooperative way, in itself remarkably given the visit of Zelenski to the White House in February, and sometimes the disputed relations are that Trump has with his European counterparts.

Trump seemed to be glad to be the merciful host in both Alaska and the White House, and his comments suggest that he watches that he was ending the war in Ukraine as the key to cementing his inheritance.

“If I can reach the sky, it will be one of the reasons,” he said on Tuesday a television interview.

But the path to the sky is narrow, as they say, and there are still numerous obstacles to the end of the war in Ukraine, not least, it is not yet clear that Putin wants the war to end when he is making a grinding progress on the battlefield.

The Russian leader may feel that his position is intensifying only over time, and that the best strategy is to slow down negotiations while avoiding new sanctions in the United States that could harm his economy.

Trump put those sanctions, which seemed to be probably two weeks ago, in an indefinite detention, and he seems to be legally believed that Putin wants to make a deal.

In private comments on French President Emmanuel Macron, who was taken from a live microphone, Trump said so much.

“I think he wants to make a deal for me, do you understand this?” Trump said. “As crazy as it sounds.”

It may sound crazy, given that Putin has continued his relentless attacks on Ukraine for nearly four years. It may sound naive. But the US president puts considerable faith in Putin’s alleged good intentions.

Even if Putin turns out to be a reliable partner for negotiation – a big one, if Trump himself can be a mercury ally. As the White House meetings went smoothly, he had previously made turns in US foreign policy and he could do it again. It is in the last eight months that his views on Zelenski have directed between sharply critical maintenance.

Peace that depends on American assurances may not be a solid foundation on which to build it. Sometimes the obscene efforts of European leaders to love Trump with praise on Monday have hinted at their worries about his sometimes turbulent nature.

“I think in the last two weeks we have probably had more progress at the end of this war than in the last three and a half years,” said Finnish President Alexander Stub.

The hastyly arranged journey of Europeans to Washington is designed to sandwich Putin to limit his ability to influence Trump’s thinking.

In addition to the key players, there is another vote in Trump’s decision -making process – his political base, which accepts his “America First”, a non -interventional rhetoric.

Any security, any commitment to military resources, or any new foreign obligations that Trump may consider taking on a peace transaction can be viewed skeptically by his supporters.

They were restless during the US strikes for Iran in June, and it was only one night of action. More constant American duties to Ukraine at a time when a large segment of the nation would prefer to focus inward inward, it can put Trump in a difficult position – one that he may prefer to avoid completely.

Whatever progress has been made, there is still a major reality that encourages US involvement in the peace process in the coming days. Trump may want to be viewed from the world – and history – as a peacemaker. But compared to Europe, Russia or certainly Ukraine, it has the least bet during these negotiations.

In the end, Trump could just leave the table. The ability to move away is also a kind of power.

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