Trump stated that he would be “in contact” with the Russian President soon, without specifying a date or schedule for the anticipated talks. The American President added, “I have ended seven wars, but the war I initially thought would be the easiest turned out to be more complicated than I expected.” This follows the “Coalition of the Willing” meeting on Thursday, chaired by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, with the participation of Volodymyr Zelensky, where Trump joined via video link. A German newspaper reported, citing sources, that European politicians do not expect American President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russia. The newspaper mentioned that a heated phone conversation took place on Thursday between Trump and European state and government leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The report stated: “According to the newspaper, the European side does not expect Trump to agree to impose sanctions on Russia, even after the phone conversation on Thursday.” Later, Trump posted a picture on his “Truth Social” platform with Putin in Alaska, taken while they were observing military aircraft flying. The two presidents met on August 15 at the “Elmendorf–Richardson” military base in Anchorage, Alaska, where they discussed ways to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and praised the results of the talks, confirming a “large number of areas of cooperation.” Putin also emphasized the possibility of reaching an end to the Ukrainian crisis, expressing Russia’s desire for a long-term resolution, while Trump said they had reached “understandings on many points,” but there are still unresolved issues, adding that the success of any agreement “depends on Zelensky’s stance.”
