The White House is launching fresh attacks on Europe, according to Axios, which cites senior officials as sources. They claim that while some European leaders publicly support Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, they are quietly sabotaging the progress achieved after the summit in Alaska.

According to the same report, the White House asked the Treasury Department to prepare a list of sanctions that Europe could impose on Russia.

The publication comes two weeks after Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the U.S. assessing that no progress has been made toward ending the war. However, this time – according to Axios – the White House is not placing the blame on Vladimir Putin, but rather on European leaders who are pressuring Ukraine to insist on unrealistic territorial concessions from Russia.

“The Europeans are prolonging the war and have unrealistic expectations”

Axios reports that the sanctions the U.S. is urging Europe to adopt against Russia include a full halt of all oil and gas purchases, as well as secondary tariffs on India and China similar to those already imposed on India by the U.S.

“The Europeans cannot prolong this war and maintain unrealistic expectations while at the same time expecting America to bear the cost,” a senior White House official told Axios. “If Europe wants to escalate this war, that will depend on them. But they will desperately ruin their own victory.”

U.S. officials believe that British and French representatives are more constructive, but they argue that other major European countries want the U.S. to shoulder the full cost of the war without taking any risks themselves.

“Reaching a deal is the art of the possible,” said the senior official. “But some Europeans continue to operate in a fairy-tale world that ignores the fact that it takes two to tango.”

Trump considers pulling out of negotiations

The U.S. president has repeatedly stressed that after his summits with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the next step should be a direct Putin–Zelensky summit.

However, Russia has so far refused such a meeting, while Ukraine rejects any discussion of territorial concessions unless the Russians agree to sit at the negotiating table.

A senior White House official told Axios that Trump is seriously considering withdrawing from diplomatic efforts until one or both sides show greater flexibility.

“We’ll sit back and watch. Let them fight for a while and see what happens,” the official said.

Security guarantees for Ukraine to come from Europe – “It’s not our war”

In an interview with the Daily Caller, Trump was asked whether he is considering sending American troops to Ukraine. He replied:

“Maybe we’ll do something. Look, I’d like to see the problem solved. These aren’t our soldiers, but every week 5,000 to 7,000 people are killed, mostly young men. If I could stop that and have a plane flying once in a while, it will mainly be the Europeans, but we would help them. You know, they need it, and we would help them if we could do something.”

Asked about security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump made clear that these would have to come from Europe, with the U.S. playing only a supportive role.

“I don’t think it can be settled without some kind of security guarantee, and we’re not going to have troops on the ground or anything like that. But if we can help Europe, we will,” Trump added.

Trump also declared that the conflict in Ukraine “is not America’s war” and that he inherited it from his predecessor in the White House. “I inherited this war. And all I’m trying to do is put out the fire,” he commented.