Trump wants to meet with Putin for talks on Ukraine – CNN

20 January 14:00

President-elect Donald Trump has instructed his aides to organize a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days following his inauguration to discuss a face-to-face meeting in the coming months to try to end the war against Ukraine. This was reported by CNN, citing its own sources, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

It is noted that Trump and his team hope to quickly begin work on a settlement plan that could be implemented during the first months of his presidency – including through a direct conversation with Putin.

Members of Trump’s national security team began working on a phone call with Putin several weeks ago. It is unclear whether a date for the conversation has been finalized.

As soon as Trump takes office, US and Russian officials will be able to start working in earnest on organizing a face-to-face meeting. The new US president has said that talks are already being organized, but the Kremlin has said it will wait until Trump is in office to begin formal preparations. Both Switzerland and Serbia have said they are ready to host.

It is noted that any talks between Putin and Trump would reflect a sharp departure from President Joe Biden’s approach. He has not spoken directly to Putin in almost three years, doubting that any conversation would be useful in resolving the conflict.

U.S. Congressman Mike Waltz, the incoming national security adviser, said on Sunday that he expects a phone call between Trump and Putin in the “coming days and weeks.”

As a reminder, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced its readiness to organize a meeting between US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on its territory.

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Trump’s position on Ukraine

During the election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly said that he would stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. Sometimes he suggested that this could happen even before that.

Also during the election, the media spread the so-called “Trump Plan”. The idea was that the United States would use its influence to stop the war and maintain the status quo. To do this, Trump would force Putin and Zelenskyy to sit down at the negotiating table. If Putin does not agree to negotiate, the United States will give Ukraine all the weapons it needs to win on the battlefield. If Zelenskyy refuses to negotiate, the United States will completely stop helping Ukraine.

This plan, in its various variations, stipulates that Russia retains the territories it temporarily occupies and that Ukraine does not join NATO.

However, later Trump seemed to “forget” about this plan. In particular, he voiced scenarios in which he would force Russia to capitulate due to the decline in world oil prices.

After Trump was elected President of the United States, one of his advisors, Brian Lanza, said that Ukraine should forget about Crimea. The president-elect’s entourage, however, was quick to deny this statement and said that Lanza could not speak for Trump.

Currently, the future US Special Representative for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is talking about 100 days in which he wants to reach some kind of agreement.

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Остафійчук Ярослав
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