Trump puts onus on Europe to pressure Putin in Ukraine conference call

• EU countries have dramatically decreased their purchases of Russian oil and gas since the war began, but the White House official claimed "Russia received €1.1 billion in fuel sales from the EU in one year."
• "The President also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia's war efforts," the official said.

The latest: In a press conference after the call, Zelensky said at he'd stressed that there needs to be more pressure on Russia

• French President Emmanuel Macron, who was on the call, said afterwards that if Putin continues to reject peace talks with Zelensky, more sanctions will be imposed in coordination with the U.S.
• The White House emphasized that it's up to Europe to pressure Putin. "The president was cordial but he was very direct in his demand the Europe puts more pressure on Russia," a second U.S. official told Axios.

Reality check: The primary EU customers for Russian oil are Hungary and Slovakia, which have exemptions from EU import bans — and, incidentally, have Trump-friendly leaders, says Tatiana Mitrova of Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy.

• In addition, some petroleum products originating from Russia do wind up in the EU after being refined in countries like Turkey or India, Mitrova says.
• "There is some grounds [for Trump's comments] because Europe is still receiving Russian hydrocarbons three and a half years since the beginning of the war," she says.
• "So there is a bit of hypocrisy here. But the fact that the call is coming from Trump — who two weeks ago was hugging Putin in Anchorage — is also really strange."

Between the lines: The U.S. has put hefty tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, but hasn't followed through on threats to tariff the other major customer: China.

• European officials have said they are currently preparing another round of sanctions on Russia, though not on China.
• Ukrainian and European officials have argued for months that the U.S. has considerable leverage over Russia, and White House officials have claimed Trump could tank the Russian economy if he chose to do so.

State of play: Trump has been reluctant to follow through on those threats, even as he's grown frustrated with his inability to convene a meeting between Zelensky and Putin or achieve any significant breakthroughs.

• "I've been watching it, I've been seeing it, and I've been talking about it with President Putin and President Zelenskyy... but they are not ready yet," Trump told CBS on Wednesday.
• Zelensky says he is ready to meet Putin, but the Russian side has said the terms and objectives of the meeting must be negotiated ahead of time.

• On Wednesday, Putin said he was willing to meet with Zelensky in Moscow. Ukrainian officials say they would fear for Zelensky's life if he traveled there.

Driving the news: Trump's call with Zelensky and the European leaders took place after a meeting in Paris between the Ukrainian president and European leaders from "the coalition of the willing" — a group of Western countries working on security guarantees for Ukraine.

• Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Paris and participated in the meeting. Witkoff also met Zelensky.
• Zelensky said it is clearer after the meeting in Paris which countries are ready to send troops to Ukraine and stressed the U.S. also needs to be part of the security guarantees to Ukraine.
• Ukrainian officials say Zelensky discussed with the European leaders a set of options for security guarantees, with the key principles being a strong Ukrainian military, a European military presence on Ukrainian soil, and a U.S. "backstop."

Zoom in: When it comes to European and U.S. participation, Ukraine proposed the principle of "boots on the ground and flags on the ground," the Ukrainian officials say.

• The idea is that countries that can't or won't send significant troop contingents to Ukraine in the context of a peace deal can contribute by sending fighter jets or otherwise aiding in air support, providing intelligence, deploying ships to the Black Sea, sending symbolic small military contingents or just providing funding.
• "We discussed in detail each country's readiness to make a contribution to ensuring security on land, at sea, in the air, and in cyberspace. We coordinated positions and reviewed elements of security guarantees," Zelensky said after the meeting.