Fears mount that Trump may abandon Ukraine peace talks as progress stalls Sources tell FT

European and Ukrainian officials are increasingly worried that US President Donald Trump is preparing to walk away from peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, potentially using any minor diplomatic progress as justification to declare his job complete, sources familiar with the talks told the Financial Times.

Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to end the war within “24 hours,” has so far failed to gain traction with his approach, which has included outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin and efforts to pressure Ukraine into accepting a 30-day ceasefire — a proposal that has not won international backing, let alone yielded a lasting peace framework.

Four officials involved in the discussions told the FT that after recent rounds of talks with US negotiators, both European and Ukrainian representatives are convinced Trump is now ready to frame even modest breakthroughs as major accomplishments. The timing, they note, coincides with the end of his first 100 days in office — a milestone Trump is reportedly eager to mark with a diplomatic win.

“He’s setting up a situation where he gives himself excuses to walk away and leave it to Ukraine and us [Europe] to fix,” one European official said.

Putin’s refusal to accept key demands — such as the preservation of Ukraine’s military capabilities after the war — along with the overall complexity of the conflict, has led Trump to reconsider his long-term engagement with the peace process, the officials said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called this week a “critical” one for negotiations and warned on Sunday that Washington was not prepared to be drawn into prolonged discussions. The Russian side, meanwhile, proposed a symbolic three-day ceasefire from May 8–10, coinciding with Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations. However, Putin has a record of breaking similar ceasefire pledges, including those made during Easter and previous truce talks concerning Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

According to one person briefed on internal US discussions, officials have grown uneasy over the lack of results from their contacts with Russia. In response, they have begun floating alternative proposals that could be more easily packaged as a win under Trump’s tight timeline.

“There are people who think the Russians might go along” with Trump’s ideas, the source said, but emphasised that “nothing is in place to actually make this work. Some of the elements are actually good, but it’s the impatience of doing it now that’s the problem.”

Over the weekend, Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Pope Francis’s funeral in the Vatican. Trump publicly praised Zelenskyy afterwards and expressed disappointment at renewed Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, saying he was “surprised and disappointed” by Putin’s actions.

Despite the cordial meeting, some Ukrainian officials told the FT they remain deeply concerned that Trump might abruptly exit the process. One senior official said the possibility of the US president walking away was a “serious” one.

Still, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi described the Vatican meeting as “constructive and a good one.” He added that Kyiv views mixed messages from Washington — including Rubio’s dismissal of further sanctions — as part of a broader diplomatic communication strategy.

“Obviously, the United States at this point, as a mediator, is trying to push the sides [Ukraine and Russia] forward to achieve peace, and this is how we read those statements,” Tykhyi said.

Complicating matters, Russia has toughened its conditions. On April 28, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted that international recognition of Russia’s annexation of five Ukrainian regions is a non-negotiable requirement for any peace agreement.

These developments have prompted some European leaders to reconsider whether keeping Trump “engaged” is a viable strategy. One official said the new thinking is “to do the right thing and rather not what Trump wants.”

Anticipating a possible US withdrawal, Kyiv has quietly begun taking steps to strengthen its own position, including boosting domestic weapons production and deepening talks with European partners about future military and financial aid.

It remains unclear whether the US would again halt intelligence sharing and military support, as it briefly did in March. However, the uncertainty is fueling anxiety in Ukraine.

“There are serious apprehensions in Ukraine that Trump might walk away from ceasefire negotiations,” Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of Zelenskyy’s ruling party and chair of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told the FT.

“The worst thing that can happen in US-Ukraine relations is when Trump will lose any interest in Ukraine,” he warned. “That might be perceived by Putin as a tacit permission from the US to escalate the war.”

By Tamilla Hasanova