European leaders see both better and worse scenarios for Trump's future actions on war in Ukraine – Bloomberg

European leaders still hope US President Donald Trump will return to his earlier view that Russia is responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine, but they are also preparing for the "worst-case" scenario in which the United States would forgive Russia and leave Ukraine with no assistance.

Source: Bloomberg, citing sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: In Europe – and particularly in the United Kingdom – there is still hope that as negotiations continue to stall, Trump will return to his "October" position (when he first imposed sanctions on Russia), view Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as the main obstacle to ending the Russo-Ukrainian war and accordingly begin increasing pressure on the Russian economy.

However, European leaders fear that the White House leader may "wash his hands of the war" and step back if he does not see a potential deal emerging soon.

There are differing views on how this may unfold, a Western European official told Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity.

In the potential worst-case scenario, Trump would stop pressuring Russia, block Ukraine from receiving US weapons and cease intelligence sharing, leaving the entire burden of support to Europe.

A slightly less severe negative scenario, Bloomberg's sources say, would involve Trump distancing himself and declaring that this is now "Europe's war", while continuing weapons sales to NATO for use by Ukraine and maintaining intelligence exchanges.

Background:

• On 6 December, French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he briefed the Ukrainian leader on recent international discussions concerning Ukraine.
• Axios learned that a phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Saturday 6 December lasted two hours, and the discussion of territorial issues was "difficult".
• Keith Kellogg, Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine, said that a deal to end the war in Ukraine is "really close".

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