Writing on Telegram, Pushkov criticised Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, French President Emmanuel Macron, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, arguing that European leaders have offered "no serious answers" for why they should be involved in talks already led by the United States. Pushkov suggested that EU ambitions risk "derailing even the fragile negotiations that are already underway," framing European efforts as symbolic rather than substantive.
This was Donald Trump's warning to Islamic State after the US attacked what it said were IS bases in Nigeria. It was arguably the most stark seasonal message ever delivered by a US president. How it may serve his ambition to receive a Nobel Peace Prize is not clear. The nation is a multi-ethnic country split between the mostly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.
Behind the scenes: White House officials are losing patience with European leaders, whom they claim are pushing Ukraine to hold out for unrealistic territorial concessions by Russia. Axios has learned that the sanctions the U.S. is urging Europe to adopt against Russia include a complete cessation of all oil and gas purchases - plus secondary tariffs from the EU on India and China, similar to those already imposed on India by the U.S.