For the Europeans, who have spent months trying to convince Trump that Putin bears full responsibility for the war, the apparent change of heart also came as something of a vindication of their own efforts.
Speaking to reporters outside the U.N. Security Council building, Europe’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas appeared to welcome Trump’s post as showing a change of heart. “He’s made a very strong statement that we hadn’t heard before so it really shows we are in the same understanding,” she said.
The post may also cheer European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who’s come under fire in recent months for being too accommodating of Trump, namely for having agreed to a U.S.-EU trade deal that was widely panned as a “humiliation” for Brussels.
Now, her approach looks like it might have a chance of paying off, at least as far as Ukraine is concerned. Meeting with Trump a few hours before his Truth Social post, von der Leyen stuck to her formula, saying “Trump is absolutely right” on the need for Europe to divest from Russian energy. “We’re on it,” she pledged.
Von der Leyen’s relationship with Trump has also evolved dramatically since he was first sworn in, said an EU official who was granted anonymity to speak about EU-Washington relations. The European Commission president is now in frequent phone contact with the U.S. president, using the calls to alert him to, among other things, Russia’s attack on the EU mission in Ukraine as well as the issue of Ukraine’s children abducted by Russia.
Trump had a “very in-depth” conversation with von der Leyen about the EU’s latest round of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, with the U.S. president showing particular interest in measures targeting Chinese assets.