Donald Trump is considering putting pressure on Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia if he returns to power next year, sources familiar with the matter say, Bloomberg reports, citing News.ro.

According to sources, Trump’s advisers have discussed bringing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table at the start of a possible second term for the former president.

A Trump aide said a promise to end U.S. military aid could prompt Ukraine to come to the negotiating table, while the threat of increased U.S. aid could prompt Russia to do the same.

Advisers such as Larry Kudlow and Robert O’Brien have also publicly pushed for stronger sanctions against Russia’s central bank to influence Putin.

Bloomberg’s sources said the Trump campaign is not currently negotiating with Russian or Ukrainian proxies, in part because doing so would likely violate the Logan Act, which prohibits private individuals from negotiating on behalf of the government.

On the other hand, among other possible moves during his second term, Trump’s inner circle has discussed what is essentially a two-speed NATO alliance in which Article 5, which provides for the common defense of any member under attack, would apply only to countries. according to Bloomberg’s sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

At the same time, these sources warned that no political decision has been made in this regard. Other ideas floating around Trump suggest imposing new ceilings on NATO countries lagging behind in spending, the sources said.

If implemented, these initiatives would upend decades of American policy, severing the defense alliance that has shaped European security since the Cold War. They also worry Asian allies about Washington’s commitment to confronting China, Bloomberg writes.

While Trump’s return to the White House will soon be felt in Europe, Washington’s change in stance on Ukraine is likely to be seen as a signal to Beijing regarding Taiwan.

US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith made a direct connection between the action regarding Ukraine and China. Putin must understand “that the support of the West is not decreasing, that he cannot attack another country and violate its sovereignty without provocation,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “This is the message we have to convey to Putin, as well as to the rest of the world, including China,” she said.

Trump threw the phone into Angela Merkel’s nose

Merkel’s successor in Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said this week that Germany would meet the alliance’s spending target this year, which his country set after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Before the shock of the war, Merkel tried to explain to Trump that military spending at this level was politically inappropriate.

During his presidency, Trump raised the issue with the former German chancellor in several conversations, according to people with knowledge of those interactions. During those talks, the former president told Merkel that he would not be responsible for what happens if Germany does not pay, one of the sources said. He ended another call by slamming the phone into her nose.

“The Germans had a budget surplus, but they refused to pay their 2% obligations to NATO,” Richard Grenell, Trump’s ambassador to Germany, recalled that time in an interview. “When you don’t pay, you are a country that undermines NATO,” the former ambassador said, quoted by News.ro.