Nick Schifrin:
The Kremlin has long translated initial causes as the presence of U.S. and NATO troops in Eastern Europe. Congressional officials tell “PBS News Hour” the Trump administration had already been considering reducing U.S. troops in Europe.
The Kremlin has also demanded Ukraine refuse NATO weapons, cap its military size and abandon NATO membership. Those are red lines for Ukraine, but the Trump administration appears willing, at the very least, to block Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.
Today, Putin also disparaged the very idea of a temporary pause.