Russia is sending signals that it intends to slow-walk a peace deal on Ukraine, showing some daylight between the Kremlin and President Trump’s intentions to end the war.

From a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to suggestions of security agreements for Kyiv, Russian officials have expressed doubt about some early prospects of a peace deal, parts of which are also being backed by a contingent of European Leaders.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tamped down any progress made at a summit at the White House earlier this week where Trump met with seven foreign leaders as well as Zelensky, calling it a “clumsy attempt” by Europe to try to change Trump’s mind. Trump, in turn, welcomed such a meeting.

But in the days following, Lavrov said any discussions of security guarantees — something Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested during their meeting in Alaska last week — would lead to a “road to nowhere” if Moscow isn’t involved.

The tone from the Russians is cause for concern. Trump, Zelensky and the Europeans lamented at the White House that they were finally seeing the first opportunity since the war began to bring an end to the bloodshed, but Moscow is undercutting some key points of such progress.

“There’s more daylight between the United States and Russia than Ukraine might realize,” Michael Rubin, senior fellow with the conservative Washington think tank the American Enterprise Institute, told The Hill.

“Here’s the dynamic that works in Kyiv’s favor: Both Trump and Putin like shifting the goalposts when they make agreements. Trump, however, believes shifting goalposts is his exclusive right. When he sees others doing it, he turns on them. The fact that Putin won’t abide by agreements and won’t silence his guns for Trump’s desired Nobel Prize risks causing one of Trump's infamous U-turns.”

The White House walked away from meetings on Monday with Zelensky and European leaders with a sense of optimism that a peace agreement was within reach.

Trump said he had started the process of setting up a meeting........

© The Hill