Diplomacy: Donald Trump increases talks on Ukraine

Since his victory in the American presidential election, Donald Trump has increased his calls regarding the war in Ukraine, with the Washington Post even reporting an exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin two days after the election.

According to anonymous sources cited by the daily, the Republican asked the Russian leader not to provoke an escalation in Ukraine. A spokesperson for the US president-elect’s transition team said in a statement to AFP that it would not “comment on private calls between President Trump and other leaders”.

Shortly after, the German Chancellery indicated that Olaf Scholz had spoken on Sunday with Donald Trump and that they had both said they were “ready to work together for the return of peace to Europe”.

Possible “peace”

The Kremlin had estimated earlier in the day that the Republican had sent “positive signals” regarding the conflict during the campaign, since he spoke of a possible “peace” and did not show a “willingness to inflict defeat strategic to Russia.

According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed the goal of peace on the European continent and Donald Trump said he hoped to have follow-up conversations to discuss “resolving the war in Ukraine soon.” .

This is the first telephone conversation between the two men since Donald Trump won the US presidential election last Tuesday. Donald Trump would also have reminded Vladimir Putin of the extent of the American military presence in Europe.

Exchange Trump-Zelensky

Very critical of the billions of dollars released for Ukraine, Donald Trump had already spoken on Wednesday with Volodymyr Zelensky. An exchange in which billionaire Elon Musk participated.

The Ukrainian president described this telephone exchange as “excellent” and had “agreed to maintain a close dialogue” with Donald Trump. But according to a senior Ukrainian source, the two leaders “didn’t really discuss anything substantial, it was a conversation to greet each other.”

Foreign policy issues will be on the menu of the meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump scheduled in the Oval Office on Wednesday to begin the transfer of power.

“38 days away from losing your benefits”

The United States will spend the remaining six billion dollars dedicated to Ukraine before Donald Trump comes to power, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, warning of the risks linked to stopping the American support for kyiv.

Donald Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20, has regularly claimed to be able to end the war in Ukraine “in one day”, without ever detailing how he would go about it. But this could probably involve an agreement that would require kyiv to cede part of its territory to Moscow, a concession impossible to envisage on the Ukrainian side.

This question would have been raised during the interview between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, according to the “Washington Post”. On Saturday, Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Junior, shared a photo of Volodymyr Zelensky alongside his father on Instagram. With the caption “POV” (point of view): “you are 38 days away from losing your benefits”, in reference to the billions spent by the United States to help kyiv.

“Latest news”

Want to stay on top of the news? “24 Heures” offers you two appointments per day, directly in your email box. So you don’t miss anything that’s happening in your Canton, in Switzerland or around the world.

Other newsletters

Log in

AFP

Did you find an error? Please report it to us.

0 comments