"Trump told Zelensky 1) that he had to give up some land for peace (reports differed on whether the land included all of the Donbas region or just the patches that Russian troops occupy now), 2) that Russia would destroy Ukraine otherwise (not long ago, Zelensky convinced Trump that Ukraine could win the war), and 3) that the cruise missiles were off the table, because America needs them for our own defense."
"Zelensky was making the case for Washington to send him Tomahawk cruise missiles so he could attack targets deep inside Russia, just as Russia was doing to his own country. But Russian President Vladimir Putin had preemptively phoned Trump the day before, and, as often happens when those two talk, Trump came away thinking Putin wanted to end the war and resume doing business with the United States."
Trump told Zelensky he had to give up some land for peace, warned that Russia would destroy Ukraine otherwise, and declined to provide Tomahawk cruise missiles, saying America needed them for its own defense. Putin phoned Trump beforehand, leading Trump to think Putin wanted to end the war and resume business, and Putin also tsk-tsked about Trump's failure to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump planned a summit with Putin in Hungary to settle matters with or without Zelensky. Marco Rubio met Sergey Lavrov, who said Putin would not agree to a ceasefire or make compromises. Rubio informed Trump, and Trump canceled the summit.
Read at Slate Magazine
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