WP: Europe shocked to learn Trump plans to meet with Putin

European partners were stunned to learn that U.S. President Donald Trump is planning to meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This was reported by The Washington Post with reference to an unnamed European official.

A senior European official says they were shocked to learn that Trump plans to meet directly with Putin.

"Despite all the hype, Trump hasn't put any pressure on Putin – not yet. Not one iota," the official added.

The article says that after months of dodging pressure for a ceasefire, Putin may be counting on his ability to manipulate Trump at the summit, just as he is widely believed to have done during their meeting in Helsinki in 2018. At that time, Trump supported Putin's denial of interference in the 2016 election, despite the findings of US intelligence agencies.

In Kyiv, some officials expressed outrage that Putin was again maneuvering to exclude Ukraine and its European partners from the talks.

"We are hearing signals from all communication channels that [Russia] is seeking to resolve the situation. However, trust between the parties has been completely destroyed," a Ukrainian official told WP.

He added that talk of a partial ceasefire in the air may be nothing more than a Russian tactic aimed at appeasing Trump and securing a political victory before the US midterm elections.

Such a deal would not end the war, but it would give Trump a chance to say something like: "I stopped the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians every day," the official emphasized.

• On August 7, Trump said there was a "very good chance" of a trilateral meeting between him, the Ukrainian president and the Russian dictator .
• On August 8, Russians said that a meeting between Trump and Putin had been allegedly agreed. But the White House denied this.
• Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is considering several formats of meetings at the level of leaders of countries that could lead to an end to the war. Also, after talking to the head of the European Commission, the President of Ukraine said that "the voice of Europe will be heard in diplomacy".