Trump 'extremely frustrated' with Russia, Ukraine amid slow peace progress, White House says
U.S. President Donald Trump is "extremely frustrated" with both Russia and Ukraine amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Dec. 11 press briefing, as the United States weighs whether to join Ukraine and European partners for talks this weekend.
Leavitt made the remarks in response to a question about whether the United States would participate in the discussions. She said no decision has been made.
"The United States and the Trump administration continues to be very much engaged in trying to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end," she said.
Leavitt noted that the president spoke with European leaders the previous day and that his special envoy Steve Witkoff and team "continue to talk with both sides literally as we speak."
Leavitt said the administration would consider sending a representative only if it sees a meaningful chance for progress.
"If there is a real chance of signing a peace agreement, if we feel like those meetings are worthy of ... the United States's time this weekend, then we will send a representative," she said.
"It's still up in the air whether we believe real peace can be accomplished and we can truly move the ball forward."
She emphasized Trump's dissatisfaction with the pace and productivity of recent diplomacy.
"The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he's sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting," Leavitt said. "He doesn't want any more talk. He wants action. He wants this war to come to an end."
Leavitt said administration officials have spent more than 30 hours in recent weeks speaking with Russian, Ukrainian, and European counterparts.
"We'll see about the meetings this weekend," she said.
Though Trump has continued to express impatience over slow progress on a peace agreement, his administration has seemingly applied no pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine and has, in recent weeks, advanced a peace proposal that favors Moscow while undermining the interests of Ukraine and Europe.
