European leaders convinced Trump that negotiations should only begin after strengthening Ukraine's position.

European partners of Ukraine have expressed cautious optimism that the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump will not pressure Kyiv into initiating negotiations with Russia too hastily or from a position of weakness.

Source. This is reported by Bloomberg.

Trump's team has shifted its stance following a series of private discussions with European allies, who made arguments in favor of continuing support for Ukraine, the publication states, citing European officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

According to them, this offers hope that the new administration may assist Ukraine in regaining a position of strength before any negotiations begin.

However, participants in these private discussions caution that they are uncertain about what the future U.S. president, known for his unpredictability, will do.

Moreover, even members of the new president's team do not yet have a rough plan for resolving the conflict.

The two strongest arguments that influenced Trump's associates, according to them, were: if a quick deal is made with concessions to Putin, the new U.S. president risks finding himself in a humiliating position similar to that of Joe Biden following the hasty and poorly planned withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

If Putin is allowed to achieve such a victory, it would only encourage China to act more aggressively, they pointed out as the second argument.

Trump's associates had previously proposed several options, predominantly revolving around the idea of freezing the conflict along the lines of the current standoff and providing security guarantees for Ukraine.

During the election campaign, Trump claimed he could stop the war in 24 hours, but now he speaks of six months. His special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, stated recently that he aims to try to find a resolution to the conflict within 100 days of the inauguration on a "personal and professional" level.

Trump has already announced that he is preparing a meeting with Putin, which he allegedly wants to hold. The Kremlin responded that they "are proceeding from a mutual readiness for a meeting."

The new administration also intends to act from a position of strength.

"The entire Trump team is fixated on strength and on appearing strong, which is why they are changing their approach to Ukraine," a European official told the Financial Times recently. According to him, the new administration fears comparisons with the hasty troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Trump's camp would not want to see a similar outcome in Ukraine.