Trump met with European leaders and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House earlier this week where they established the framework for more meetings with Putin.
There seems to be movement, and the end of the war in Ukraine may seem close to those reading and watching from afar.
But Russia launched a major aerial offensive Tuesday night involving 93 drones and two missiles. The strikes wounded at least 14 people, including a family with three young children in the Sumy region, Reuters reports.
Simultaneously, another drone strike hit southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, injuring one person and igniting a fire at a fuel and energy facility.
Ukrainian energy sites have been targeted roughly 2,900 times since March, Reuters reports.
Peace efforts are making progress, but the war continues.
House Republican Burgess Owens, of Utah, believes Trump’s leadership will eventually pay off.
“I see right now something happening that we’ve been waiting for a long time – stopping the killing of innocent people. President Trump has the respect from those around the world that can now stand with him and say, ‘let’s get this done with,’” Owens said on Washington Watch Tuesday.
Trump is a “genius” and a “remarkable leader” when it comes to business and negotiations, Owens said. Eventually, Putin will relent, he told show host Jody Hice.
“I think Putin's going to actually respect that also in the process,” he said.
In his meeting with Trump, Putin confirmed what Trump has said many times … that had Trump been president the last four years that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine
“When President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then, there would be no war, and I’m quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that,” the Russian president said.
Putin’s comments did not surprise Owens.
“People respect strength. I mean, it comes down to that. Our enemies, our friends, there's something about strength that we look to, that we take comfort in, and we also want to be wary of it if we end up going up against it," he said.
Biden called Putin 'war criminal'
From 2021 to January of this year, Putin and former President Joe Biden had a cold, adversarial relationship.
It began with cautious engagement but quickly deteriorated into open hostility after the Ukraine invasion. Biden took a hard line, calling Putin a war criminal, while Putin cast Biden as the architect of Western efforts to weaken Russia.
Putin responded sharply to Biden’s characterization of him as someone whose “thoughts must not be quelled,” emphasizing that Russia's interests cannot be suppressed and that U.S. political elites should learn to show respect.
In a speech in Warsaw, in March of 2022, Biden called Putin a “butcher,” stating, “this man cannot remain in power.”
The White House later clarified that the comment did not signal a U.S. policy of regime change.
“What President Trump has done in the last eight months now, it's proven to everyone that he's going to get things accomplished 24-7,” Owens said.
The economic advantage
Economics is thought to be one of Trump’s best leverage points in trying end the war, and, should Russian attacks continue and talks turn south, sanctions could be part of the plan.
Depending on how broad and coordinated the measures, economic pressure against Russia could lead to a weakened Russian ruble, increasing import prices and inflation.
Just the uncertainty could push foreign investors away from Russian businesses.
If sanctions targeted oil and gas exports (Russia’s main revenue source), even threats could lower investor confidence in Russian energy projects.
“(Trump) has put together a remarkable team that understands how to use our greatest strength, which is our economy. We have the greatest middle class in the history of mankind. We understand that it comes from the desire for freedom and innovation and growth,” Owens said.
“Sometimes it's just a matter of respecting the fact that we want peace around the world and being partners with us in that process.”
