Jonas Gahr Store during a meeting with Trump last fall.Image: keystone
Trump is putting pressure on Ukraine. He wants a peace agreement – to get the Nobel Prize. How much he longs for this is shown by a text message correspondence with the Norwegian head of government, which he has now made public.
02/16/2026, 05:1002/16/2026, 05:10
Christoph Cöln / t-online
Negotiations on a possible peace agreement in Ukraine have been at an impasse for months. This is particularly due to Russia’s authoritarian President Vladimir Putin. So far he has rejected all offers negotiated between the USA and Ukraine. Putin insists on his maximum demands: the complete abandonment of the Donbass by Ukraine, the country not joining NATO and the replacement of the democratic government under Volodymyr Zelensykj.
It was only on Sunday that the Kremlin announced another proposal that would tie an end to the war to a condition that Ukraine cannot meet: Moscow wants to install an interim administration in Ukraine. This is intended to enable democratic elections – but probably only with a result that is acceptable to Moscow.
Zelensky, in turn, reaffirmed his willingness to hold democratic elections at the Munich Security Conference. However, only after there has been a peace agreement with Putin – before then this would not be possible at all. According to the Ukrainian constitution, elections are not legally permitted during martial law – which has been in effect since the Russian invasion in 2022.
Trump resents the lack of an award
Meanwhile, US President Trump is increasing the pressure – not on the Kremlin, but on Kiev. “Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensky has to get moving, otherwise he will miss a great opportunity,” said the 79-year-old at the weekend. But Zelenskyj does not want to and cannot give in to the aggressor’s demands. Not just because Ukrainian law prohibits it. The majority of Ukrainians still do not want a peace agreement on Russian terms. And so far Putin has not shown himself willing to negotiate on a single point.
Trump doesn’t seem to care. He has publicly stated several times that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, and he wants to gather the necessary arguments with peace in Ukraine. But the Nobel Prize Committee in Oslo apparently has something else in mind. This year the prize went to the Venezuelan opposition activist María Corina Machado.
Has what Trump really wants: María Corina Machado with the award.Image: keystone
However, it has long been known that the US President takes particular offense when he doesn’t get the attention he thinks he deserves. This became clear once again when Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store spoke in an exclusive interview with “The Atlantic” on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference at the weekend about correspondence that he exchanged with Trump via text message a few weeks ago.
Trump’s answer came ten minutes later
According to his own account, Store was just coming from the ski slopes when he sent the text message to Trump from his car. In it, the Prime Minister urgently asked the US President to “de-escalate” the dispute over Greenland. The day before, Trump had threatened several European countries with punitive tariffs if they did not give in to his claim to the semi-autonomous Arctic island that belongs to Denmark and hand over the territory to the USA. Store tried classic diplomacy. “There is so much happening around us, we should stand together during this time,” he wrote to the man in the White House. At the same time, he suggested trusting discussions about the conflict.
The answer took two hours to arrive, as Store now told “The Atlantic”. It read as follows:
«Dear Jonas: Given that your country has decided NOT to award me the Nobel Peace Prize for ending eight wars, I no longer feel obliged to think exclusively about peace, although it will always be at the forefront. Instead, I can now think about what is good and right for the United States of America.”
Trump not only harshly rejected the offer of friendly talks between allies, he also linked it to another threat. Because “what is good and right for America” is currently decided by only one person: Donald Trump. And he usually backs up his demands with economic pressure or military retaliation. Washington has already threatened the violent annexation of Greenland several times, thereby causing serious damage to the NATO alliance.
Nobel Prize is subject to the strictest confidentiality rules
“It is the first time that a head of state has threatened war because he does not receive the Nobel Prize,” wrote the renowned Norwegian daily newspaper “Aftenbladet” about the incident.
The SMS correspondence is remarkable in two ways. Not only does Trump connect personal motives with world politics, he also doesn’t seem to understand that it is not the Norwegian prime minister who decides on the award. The prize is awarded solely by the responsible committee – and they attach great importance to independence. There are strict confidentiality rules for the award deliberations. No one other than the members of the committee is involved in the process. It has been done this way since 1901. But Trump apparently doesn’t want to understand that.
“I’ve reminded him a few times that it’s not my decision,” Store told The Atlantic.
“It’s not their decision [norwegischen] Government. This is a completely independent committee. There’s nothing to shake that.”
Things were hardly made any better by the fact that the Trump administration didn’t even keep the conversation between the two heads of state confidential. Ten minutes after the Republican Store personally sent his response, the White House also sent it to the ambassadors of several European countries in Washington, DC. A major affront in the world of diplomacy. “It can’t get any more absurd,” wrote the commentator from “Aftenbaldet”.
Store: “He is not receptive to this wavelength”
But it could. A short time later, Trump publicly stated that he didn’t believe Store. At a press conference on January 21, he said he had “lost a lot of respect for Norway” and was convinced that the country controlled who received the prize – despite all protestations from Oslo to the contrary.
He was asked by “The Atlantic” what Store replied to Trump’s text message. “Well, what should I have answered,” said Norway’s head of government.
«I don’t intend to take part in a market shouting match. All I can say is that we have reached a point where we are obviously no longer able to solve problems together.”
In the interview, the politician makes no secret of the fact that the process left him stunned. Nevertheless, he wrote Trump back. “I received your answer,” says Store, and:
“I still think it makes sense to talk to each other.”
However, the Prime Minister has little hope that the US President could still be open to rational arguments from allies.
“I think he’s just not receptive to that wavelength.”
(t-online/con)
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