These two gifts from the Kremlin come at a very opportune moment for Donald Trump: shortly before the US midterm elections, Moscow declared its "principled" readiness for negotiations in a trilateral format between Russia, the US and Ukraine, and at the same time the Kremlin released American citizen Steven Hubbard, German public broadcaster ARD reported.
In St. Petersburg, the US President's special envoy Steve Witkoff thanked Vladimir Putin and said in relation to Hubbard: "This is a 74-year-old man. You have often called President Trump "a humanist". And you are a humanist. And for that I express my respect for you. I express my gratitude and thank you once again."
Criticism of Putin? There is no trace of it.
Is Putin a humanist? This assessment coincides with the new openly pro-Russian course of the American government. Trump has abandoned any semblance of impartiality, writes ARD. For days now, he has been posting tirades against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on his social network Truth Social. Criticism of Putin? There is none. On the contrary. Earlier this week, Trump said that Russia had behaved "well" in relation to Ukraine and "didn't do much".
"Alliance with a dictator and a war criminal"
"This is absolutely outrageous" - this is how Trump's ally, Congressman Don Bacon, reacted to this statement on CNN. "Our president is morally blind regarding this war. He has allied himself with a dictator and a war criminal," Bacon said. "And he is taking tough measures against a democracy that wants to be part of the West and would like to join the EU and NATO. Putin, on the other hand, hates us, but the president doesn't see it."
Bacon also said that Trump is appeasing the Kremlin boss and has become Neville Chamberlain, who once pursued a policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler. Bacon also spoke to the National Review magazine, where he directly said of Trump: "Trump is pandering to Putin".
ARD also recalls the protest against Trump's diesel agreement with Putin by twelve American senators - six from each party, who sent a letter to the White House. According to them, this agreement is "betrayal of the Ukrainian people". One of the signatories, Tom Tillis of the Republican Party, described Trump's latest steps towards Ukraine as "more than irresponsible", saying that the president has surrendered to Putin.
On Trump and Musk: "Totally unacceptable if true"
A Wall Street Journal publication is causing a new wave of indignation. According to it, it was actually Elon Musk who restricted access to his company's satellite internet for Ukraine – and after talks with the White House.
At least one anonymous source told the newspaper that Trump knew about this even before the restriction. Alex Plitzas of the Atlantic Council think tank commented in this regard: "If Musk really did it, it is absolutely disgusting and raises the question: Can a country trust such a service in the future if a private sector CEO has the ability to effectively block things and thus interfere in international affairs?" This is "completely unacceptable, if true", says Plitzas.
Because of Trump's policy towards Ukraine, Republicans could lose votes in the midterm elections. Traditional conservatives do not approve of rapprochement with autocrats. And Moscow's promise that it is now ready "in principle" for trilateral talks is too insignificant to be considered a convincing success of Trump's diplomatic efforts, writes ARD.
Author: Carsten Künthoff (ARD)