Cards in Trump's hands. Tomahawks stay in the warehouse, Putin sits down at the table

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not receive approval for the Tomahawk long-range missiles from the White House on Friday. Although US leader Donald Trump has refrained from making the decision, he is putting pressure on the Kremlin, which has agreed to a meeting with Trump in Budapest, European and American media comment.

The American Wall Street Journal assessed that the possible transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine could be a step towards peace because it would limit Russia's ability to wage war.

According to “WSJ”, Trump – encouraged by playing an important role in the Middle East peace process – is focusing on “personal diplomacy” and a re-meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest.

“This strategy is not without risk. Trump's previous meeting with the Russian leader (in Alaska in mid-August – PAP) ended without any specific success and was widely perceived as a victory for Moscow,” wrote “WSJ.”

According to the Washington Post, the American president's tactics are working, and threats to hand over Tomahawks to Ukraine forced Putin to agree to a meeting in the Hungarian capital.

“On his way to Budapest, Trump keeps all his cards. Ukraine will continue to hit the energy infrastructure deep inside Russia, and oil prices are at their lowest level in almost five years,” wrote “WP.”

According to the newspaper, America “still has tools to put pressure on Russia, and Trump's readiness to use this force was previously underestimated.”

The French daily “Le Monde”, in turn, assessed that the US president had given up – despite previous announcements – from increasing pressure on Russia. “Intoxicated by his diplomatic success in the Middle East (…) he prefers to believe in the advantages of his power of persuasion,” the newspaper said.

The weekly “Le Point” assessed that the choice of Budapest for the Trump-Putin meeting is “a revenge by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban against the European Union” and that the meeting “suddenly puts Hungary in the center of the European diplomatic chessboard.”

The Catalan “La Vanguardia” commented that the proposal to meet in Budapest is another attempt by the Russian leader to buy time in the war against Ukraine. “The meeting in Budapest will not resolve the conflict: it is simply another attempt by Putin to avoid pressure from the president of the United States,” the newspaper added.

Portuguese media emphasized that the Ukrainian president was returning from Washington empty-handed. As CNN Portugal wrote, Zelensky's Friday conversation at the White House will not be remembered well by the Ukrainian leader because he did not achieve his goal.

The German daily newspapers “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” and “Der Spiegel” noted in their comments that, compared to Zelensky's visit to the White House in February, “the mood was better this time.” As “Der Spiegel” assessed, the most important issue is whether Zelensky “will be able to turn better chemistry into tangible help” from Trump, whose “interest in the war in Ukraine seems to be waning.”

In turn, the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera” emphasized that weapons are not Ukraine's only problem, because Kiev does not have money to buy gas abroad. According to the daily, Ukraine needs EUR 2 billion to purchase gas abroad, but the country does not have this money after three and a half years of war.

According to Axios, Trump's meetings with Zelensky were difficult. The American website emphasizes that Zelensky hoped to leave Washington with commitments regarding new weapons for his country, but found Trump with a completely different attitude after he had a long telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Trump has made clear that his priority now is diplomacy and he believes that providing Tomahawks to Ukraine could harm those efforts, two sources told Axios. (PAP)

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