Trump pressures both Putin and Zelensky — US NATO envoy

The administration of US President Donald Trump remains committed to providing assistance to Ukraine in defending its sovereignty. At the same time, the focus of the White House has shifted toward exerting pressure on both Moscow and Kyiv to bring them to the negotiating table.

This was stated in an interview with Newsmax by U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker.

Why Trump is putting pressure on Putin and Zelensky

Whitaker emphasized that the current war in Ukraine is a trench war in which no side truly wins. At present, Trump is seeking ways to pressure each side to end the conflict.

"President Trump is trying to explore ways to continue the pressure on [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, continue the pressure, quite frankly, on [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and also look for new ways to continue to press, to bring both sides to the table to agree to a ceasefire, end the war, and just end the killing," Whitaker said.

According to the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Trump is becoming increasingly impatient due to Putin’s reluctance to de-escalate. He stressed that the U.S. president "holds all the cards."

"And, at the end of the day, he's going to play those cards as he sees appropriate to continue to create the circumstances to keep Vladimir Putin at the table, to get him to negotiate, to resolve this war, because the killing has to stop. And President Trump, I think, is just really frustrated, to be quite frank with you, that Vladimir Putin won't end this war," the NATO ambassador added.

He also noted that Trump’s statement on sanctions was "the most important" outcome on Wednesday, adding that almost simultaneously, the EU announced a new sanctions package.

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