Trump Told Ukraine to Stand Down. Putin Took the Shot.

Zelensky exposes a backdoor understanding. Macron blocks the next distraction. And Ukraine sharpens its response.

Team Trump has privately asked Ukraine not to target Russian energy infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this in a recent social media post:

"Today, the Russians launched a stone-cold, combined attack on our energy infrastructure. This is a spit in the face of everything the international community is trying to do to stop this war.

It happened right after Putin’s conversation with Trump. After the Americans asked us not to strike Russian energy facilities.

At the same time, Putin tries to portray himself as a mediator in the Middle East and assist his accomplices in Tehran. The level of cynicism is staggering."

This isn’t a shocking development—American policy has long discouraged Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy assets. What’s jarring is Trump now fully embracing the Biden-era policy of keeping Russian energy “off-limits.” It exposes the fiction at the heart of his so-called “bothsideism.”

When Trump says, “I don’t like what Ukraine is doing,” and quickly adds, “I also don’t like what Russia is doing,” he’s managing optics, not outcomes. In practice, he hands Ukraine a list of restrictions—while giving Putin a free hand.

Trump’s team quietly pressures Kyiv not to retaliate. Then, when Russia launches a massive strike—coincidentally, right after Trump’s call with Putin—they respond with hollow calls for peace and lectures about the war’s complexity. Meanwhile, Ukraine is told it’s out of cards. But the truth is, the United States is already on a slow drift toward irrelevance in this war.

Ukraine’s missile interception rate has significantly improved over the past week. Just yesterday, following Trump’s call with Putin, Russia launched 11 missiles and 183 Shahed drones into Ukraine. Eight of the missiles were intercepted; as usual, a few Iskanders slipped through. The majority of drones were shot down.

It’s been nearly two weeks since Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb knocked out a third of Russia’s strategic long-range bomber fleet. In response, Russia pulled its remaining bombers deep into its interior—making it far more difficult to organize the massive 100-missile salvos they used to launch. It’s not that Russia lacks missiles; it’s that they’re increasingly unable to fire them at scale due to operational bottlenecks. As the volume of these barrages drops, Ukraine’s interception rate continues to climb.

To compensate, Russia has shifted to near-daily missile and drone attacks—smaller in scale, but relentless in rhythm.

Here’s my recommendation for Ukraine: for every Russian missile fired, select a number—two, four, whatever makes strategic sense—and respond within seconds of detection. Strike Russian assets that fuel the war machine. Do this consistently. No exceptions.

The Trump team will understand the message. If Putin stops launching missiles, he won’t have to worry about losing more critical infrastructure. Since he won’t, it’ll be up to the Trump administration to decide what to do with their Putin.

This approach will work. Ukraine doesn’t need approval—it needs a calibrated response. Words are done. Let the battlefield speak. Let Washington listen.

When it comes to messaging, one of my biggest frustrations with Western leaders is their chronic failure to keep the public engaged. They underestimate the power of words—and lose the people in the process. None of them come close to matching Winston Churchill on that front. Say what you will, but Churchill was a propagandist through and through. Why else would he send a press contingent aboard the Arctic convoy? He understood the optics. He understood morale. He understood the stakes.

Western citizens—and the world—need to be shown where their leaders stand, what they believe, and what they’re planning. In clear terms.

This is exactly where British Prime Minister Keir Starmer falls short. Painfully short. He played a pivotal role in shifting the war’s trajectory last October—resuscitating the Western alliance after the February 28th fiasco between Trump, Zelensky, and J.D. Vance. But how many Brits even know that? And whose fault is that? Starmer’s. He needs to fire his PR team and bring in people who understand how modern media wars are actually fought.

In contrast, French President Emmanuel Macron is beginning to embrace the global spotlight—and he’s learning how to use it effectively.

He scored a major win on April 23rd when he forced the Trump team onto the defensive over Crimea. When they floated trial balloons about a “deal” requiring Ukraine to surrender Crimea, Macron didn’t wait. He came out publicly and said: Zelensky cannot be asked to sign anything while his country is under bombardment. That single, pointed remark cut through the global media stream.

Plenty happened behind the scenes after that moment. But it was Macron’s public push that broke the rhythm of U.S. perception management. He disrupted the narrative—and forced the game to shift.

And now, once again, Macron has moved the goalposts for Donald Trump. Just before world leaders gathered for the G7 meeting in Canada, he posted this:

What was the need for that post? One day before the G7 meeting?

On the surface, none. But Macron still went with it.

It’s entirely plausible the Trump team was planning to stir up the Greenland issue again—at the G7 or on its sidelines. With chaos brewing back home, the optics-obsessed Trump operation might have seen “We want Greenland” as a low-cost ploy to dominate headlines and spook the G7 into blinking.

Macron shut it down before it could even take shape. He drew a red line early—and in doing so, deflated a potential distraction balloon.

And here’s the thing: Macron now understands the strategic value of preemption. It prevents surprises. It holds the coalition together. And he’s clearly comfortable stepping into a leadership role.

That’s a good sign.

All of this sets the stage for a critical G7 summit in Canada, happening today and tomorrow. One of the key agenda items: a proposal to drop the Russian oil price cap from $60 to $45. Make no mistake—Trump’s call with Putin almost certainly touched on this. Putin knows that a cap cut would complicate his war effort and threaten his regime’s financial stability.

That’s why Washington might try to stall it.

Their likely excuse? The Israel-Iran war.

At first glance, that might sound reasonable. But nothing could be further from the truth. Israel already holds air superiority over Iran. Just yesterday, the Israeli Air Force bombed an Iranian refueling aircraft at Mashhad Airport—1,400 miles from Israeli airspace.

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) aerial refueling tanker on fire at Mashhad Airport

Once you lose control of the skies, the war is no longer escalation—it’s containment. Iran still has missiles, but they’ve been forced to sit on it. Instead of launching salvos of hundreds, they’re now firing fewer than 30 per wave. Israel has seriously compromised their command & control and launch infrastructure.

Markets aren’t fooled. Oil is trading at $73—a clear sign that no one expects a prolonged disruption. As long as Israel avoids striking Iran’s energy facilities in an attempt to collapse the regime, this war will shift into a slow containment phase, focused on degrading Iran’s nuclear capacity.

It’s hard to predict exactly how the Israel-Iran conflict evolves from here, but one thing is clear: the decisions now rest entirely with Israel and the United States. Iran has lost control. It is over. And that’s why the G7 must press Washington on the real question: What’s the endgame?

Keep the Trump team on the spot. Let them explain. The escalation ladder in this war is entirely in U.S. and Israeli hands. So let’s stop pretending that the Iran-Israel conflict justifies delaying the Russian oil price cap.

It doesn’t.

And if the Americans still insist on delay? Fine—then ask them to pick a date and sign on it. No more open-ended stalling.

Regardless of what comes out of this G7, Ukraine must move forward with its own response. It’s time to impose drone sanctions—unilaterally. As long as Putin’s forces keep bombing civilian apartments, there’s no reason to hold back.

None at all.

---

The Concis punches far above its weight. Our engagement rate is among the highest on Substack—higher than many of the platform’s biggest names. But reach still matters. And we haven’t crossed 10,000 subscribers yet.

Right now, we’re at 7,292.

Every new subscriber doesn’t just grow this platform—it strengthens the signal. It pushes stories like this into global view. Stories that bypass noise. Stories that name names. Stories that follow facts, not trends.

If you believe in Ukraine’s fight—and in cutting through the fog—subscribe. Your support gives The Concis the reach to keep going, and the force to hit harder