Media pointed to Trump's intention to cut aid to Ukraine as indicative for Europe

US President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear to the European Union (EU) that he will cut aid to Ukraine. The Washington Post (WP) reported on December 26.

"Trump is already putting pressure on European countries to increase aid to Ukraine while making it clear that security assistance from the United States will be cut," the publication said.

This is presumably part of his strategy to hold Europe more accountable in the Ukraine conflict.

Earlier, on December 22, US President-elect Donald Trump said at a conference that he was waiting for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. On December 23, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that several states had offered themselves as a platform for a meeting between Putin and Trump. However, he added that he would not name which states they were.

Prior to that, on December 16, the US president-elect said that he intended to initiate talks with Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term expired on May 20, on conflict resolution.

On Dec. 13, Trump's team said it was negotiating with the current White House administration and Ukrainian officials to end the conflict in Ukraine. On the same day, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg allowed the conflict in Ukraine to end in the coming months.

On December 3, Keith Kellogg, President-elect Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, published a plan to resolve the Ukrainian conflict. He proposed to end the political isolation of the Russian Federation, as well as to retain the territories liberated by Russia. In addition, he proposed a long postponement of the issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO. At the same time, his plan includes continuing military support for Kiev and providing it with security guarantees.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.