Putin not interested in peace

Well that didn't last long. All the razzmatazz and heightened expectations of a big, beautiful summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine blown to pieces by the Kremlin's total indifference. The phone chat between Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, and Sergey Lavrov, the crusty Russian foreign minister, sounded like a repeat of a very old record. Instead of talking ceasefire and peace, Lavrov just spouted the usual mantra about resolving the "root causes" of the reason for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Lavrov still refers to the "Nazi" regime in Kyiv, like he hasn't come to terms with the fact that Ukraine has been a democratic country now for years. So with Rubio and Lavrov getting nowhere, it was clear to Trump that a second summit with Putin, this time in Budapest, would be a waste of time. Trump is right. Putin has set his face against any deal with Zelensky unless it gives him absolutely everything he wants and probably a lot more. He's not going to do anything just to please Trump, and certainly not the Europeans who remain steadfast supporters of Zelensky. So the missiles and drones will keep flying. Putin doesn't want to talk about concessions, so Kyiv has little option but to keep attacking targets inside Russia which will further damage Putin's war economy. Whether that will force Putin to the negotiating table I seriously doubt. The war will go on and on. Meanwhile, Trump should focus all his energy on ensuring the Gaza ceasefire progresses towards a full peace settlement, and the faster, the better.