Trump considers Zelensky the main obstacle to peace — the Atlantic

According to The Atlantic, citing sources, U.S. President Donald Trump considers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the main obstacle on the path to peace.

According to the publication, the head of the White House views Ukraine’s strikes on oil refineries and Russia’s strikes on energy infrastructure as unequal and is demanding that Kyiv first and foremost stop attacking Russia’s oil industry.

“Zelensky is driving the president crazy. The U.S. president is asking for one thing: stop striking oil refineries. Meet him on this,” a White House official said.

Meanwhile, some officials in Kyiv, according to the publication, hold a different view: they believe the Russian economy will not collapse under strikes and sanctions, and therefore “we need to change our strategy, stop deceiving ourselves” and seek a way out of the war with Europe’s help.

Some of Trump’s closest outside advisers, according to The Atlantic, are privately asking what has so strongly “enchanted” Russian President Vladimir Putin with the American president that he is helping Putin shed his status as an international pariah.

One of Trump’s advisers told the publication that the U.S. president wants Putin to come to the G20 summit in Miami in December — the same event where Zelensky will be present — and for the two sides to agree on an end to the war, with Trump himself ultimately receiving the Nobel Prize.

Western media previously reported that with his statements, Zelensky risks provoking Trump into halting intelligence sharing and cutting off Starlink communications.