The future president of the United States wants to act. More than a week after calling for an immediate “ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, Donald Trump indicated on Monday that he wanted to speak to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to stop “the carnage” caused by the war. “We are going to talk to President Putin and we are going to talk to” Zelensky and (the) representatives of Ukraine. We have to stop this, it’s carnage,” Mr. Trump said from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
“A large part of this territory, when we look at what has happened… There are towns where there is not a building standing, it is a demolition site (…). So people cannot return to these cities, there is nothing left,” declared the future American president. He was questioned about the territories that could be negotiated as part of possible peace discussions between Moscow and kyiv.
The Kremlin believes that the “prerequisites for negotiations” are not met, with Moscow de facto demanding a surrender of Ukraine before negotiating peace. Russia demands that Ukrainian forces lay down their arms, that kyiv cedes the five regions that Moscow claims to annex and that Ukraine renounces joining NATO. Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to end the conflict, without explaining how he intends to proceed. He also said Ukraine should “probably” expect less aid from Washington.
VideoNotre-Dame: the handshake between Trump and Zelensky at the Elysée
European allies and kyiv fear that Mr. Trump could force kyiv into too great concessions, which would de facto grant a geopolitical and military victory to Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin on Friday welcomed the position of Mr. Trump who said he was “strongly opposed” to Ukraine’s use of American missiles against Russian territory. The administration of President Joe Biden authorized the use of such ATACMS missiles in November, after having long opposed it, following the deployment, according to the West and kyiv, of thousands of North Korean soldiers in support of the Russian soldiers.
