President Donald Trump’s administration disbanded a working group tasked with finding ways to pressure Russia into having peace talks with Ukraine, according to a report.
Efforts from the inter-agency working group came to a screeching halt when members realized Trump was not interested in taking a tougher stance with Moscow, three U.S. officials told Reuters.
“It lost steam toward the end because the president wasn’t there. Instead of doing more, maybe he wanted to do less,” one official said.
Trump has taken a backseat approach to his campaign promise of ending the war in Ukraine. Seemingly frustrated by his lack of progress, the president has even gone as far as to say that the U.S. may abandon its peace-making efforts altogether.
The conclusion of the working group, which was not known to have existed until now, is likely to cause concern among European allies ahead of a key NATO summit this month, Reuters noted.
The final nail in the coffin for the working group came about three weeks ago, when most of the White House National Security Council, including the entire team working directly with the Ukraine war, were dismissed, according to the officials.
The working group, headed by National Security Council staff, included officials from the State Department, the Treasury Department, the Pentagon and the intelligence community. Andrew Peek, the top National Security Council official for Europe and Russia who was removed in May, was also part of the group.
Officials did not specify who ordered the working group to halt operations, but said the mass staff cuts at the council made it impossible for the work to continue.
According to one of the officials, the working group was set up to develop options for Trump “if he wanted to get tougher on Russia.”
While Trump has said he is considering taking tougher measures against the Kremlin, nothing has been announced.
The conclusion of the group also follows a March suspension of work being done by some U.S. national security agencies on a coordinated effort to stop Russian sabotage and disinformation operations.
With reporting by Reuters.
