House Armed Services Democrat: Trump has ‘lowballed expectations' around Putin meeting
'I think President Trump has really sort of low-balled expectations in recent days. His conversations with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky and with Europe sort of show that,' Smith said during an appearance on NewsNation's 'The Hill.'
'I don't think it's particularly bad that they have the conversation. What's bad to date is that President Trump has not shown, I think, the unity behind Ukraine to really put pressure on Putin,' he added.
Democrats have shared growing concerns about Trump's ability to hold Putin accountable for invading Ukraine in 2022.
The president backed out of secondary sanctions on the Kremlin expected to be issued last Friday and said Ukraine will likely need to engage in a 'land swap' to end the war.
Zelensky firmly stated on Tuesday that he would not turn over the Donbas region, currently occupied by Russia, in exchange for peace. The Ukrainian leader also urged Trump and Putin to add security guarantees to any proposed agreement to ensure the war in Eastern Europe would be settled after over a decade of conflict.
Smith shared similar sentiments and urged Trump to notify Putin that he's got to stay within set boundaries.
'Success looks like Putin walking away from this going, whatever the Trump administration was in January, February and March and beyond, that seemed to be giving me a green light in Ukraine, that's gone. I have to recalculate,' Smith said.
'Success looks like standing up strong against Putin's invasion of Ukraine. And that's what needs to happen at this summit,' he added.
Putin and Trump will meet in Anchorage on Friday, in the absence of Zelensky. Officials are hopeful that talks will lead to a trilateral discussion that will swiftly accelerate towards a permanent ceasefire.
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