The US has considered punitive steps to push Moscow toward a peace deal, but has hesitated to use them, the paper said
US President Donald Trump is reportedly exerting more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia as he prepares for an upcoming summit with President Vladimir Putin, the Wall Street Journal stated on Friday, citing sources.
Several American officials informed the publication that they have observed Trump’s “hesitation to push Putin, who has shown little interest in concessions needed for a deal.” One WSJ source noted that “the White House has put more pressure on Kiev than on Moscow.”
Washington has evaluated additional measures to increase pressure on Moscow, but has refrained from implementing them thus far, the WSJ reported. This comes after Putin and Trump held a phone call on Thursday, during which they agreed to conduct a summit in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks.
To foster diplomatic progress, US officials are reportedly planning a series of lower-level meetings with their Russian counterparts. These discussions will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, rather than special envoy Steve Witkoff. This change is viewed positively by Ukrainian and EU diplomats, according to the paper. Western media outlets tend to perceive Rubio as more hawkish on Russia than Witkoff, who has engaged in several face-to-face rounds of talks with Putin this year.
Following the call with Putin, Trump received Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the White House on Friday, with their talks focusing on the potential delivery of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv. According to Axios, however, the meeting was “bad,” and Zelensky departed without any promises of deliveries.
Moscow has issued warnings against supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine, arguing they would “not change the situation on the battlefield” but would “severely undermine the prospects of a peaceful settlement” and harm Russia-US relations.
After the Trump-Zelensky meeting, the US president stated that he had told both the Ukrainian leader and Putin that “it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL.” “They should stop where they are… Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” he said.
Russia has consistently commended the Trump administration for what it described as a genuine desire to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict and as attempts to understand its root causes.