French President Emmanuel Macron is warning that Vladimir Putin will have "played" his US counterpart, Donald Trump, if the Russian leader fails to agree to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by a Monday deadline. Macron expressed hope that the meeting would occur but cautioned that if it does not, France and its allies would push for fresh "primary and secondary sanctions" to pressure Moscow. "This cannot stay without response," Macron told reporters after talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Both leaders said they would speak again with Trump over the weekend.

Macron stood by his earlier description of Putin as an "ogre at our gates," remarks that drew an angry response from Moscow. He said that Putin often says one thing at international talks and then acts differently on the ground. "The gap between President Putin's positions at international summits and the reality on the ground shows how insincere he is," Macron said, pointing to deadly Russian drone and missile strikes on Kyiv.

The White House is defending President Trump's role in seeking peace between Russia and Ukraine. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that Trump is the only American leader this century to have "held Russia in check and ensured peace in Europe," while strongly defending his recent efforts to broker an end to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Speaking after Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Leavitt said history showed a pattern of Russian aggression under past administrations. "Just look at what took place during the last four administrations. Under George W. Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under Barack Obama, Russia took Crimea. Under Joe Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine. But under President Trump, Russia did not invade or take anything,” she said. Leavitt also announced a potential trilateral summit involving Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy.

Trump has acknowledged in recent days that ending the war in Ukraine has been more difficult than he had anticipated. He has since sought a quick peace agreement after his deadline for Russia to end the war expired this month and said after his meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House on Monday that he had initiated steps for a bilateral meeting.

Some experts are suggesting that Putin is using the talks to sidestep US sanctions while continuing to attack Ukraine. Representative Don Bacon stated that Putin is stringing President Trump along, and the added time is helping Russia to continue its bombing campaign against Ukrainian cities. Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said that Putin has only escalated attacks against Ukraine following the Alaska meeting and is "openly mocking" Trump.

Trump has expressed his frustration with the difficulty of arranging a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting and mentioned the possibility of placing massive sanctions on Russia.