Trump seeks swift talks with Putin to end Ukraine conflict
President-elect of the USA, Donald Trump, said on Thursday that he is preparing a meeting with Vladimir Putin, and Putin wants to meet with him. "We have to get that war over with," he declared.
– President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That's a bloody mess – said Trump before a meeting with Republican state governors at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, as quoted by Reuters.
Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken of his desire to meet with the Russian president, but until now, has not revealed that he is already in the process of arranging the details. During Monday's press conference, the president-elect expressed frustration that he must wait to talk with Putin until he officially takes office.
At the same time, he predicted that ending the war in Ukraine would take him up to six months, although during the election campaign, he promised to do it within a day or even before his formal inauguration.
Some Ukrainian and American commentators also pointed out that on Monday, Trump expressed an understanding of Russia's "feelings" and concerns about Ukraine's potential NATO membership. Trump also claimed that Joe Biden's decision to rule out closing Ukraine's path to NATO was the reason for Russian aggression and did not want to say whether he would support Ukraine while negotiations were ongoing.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden's administration is planning to announce another package of sanctions against Russia soon, aiming to strengthen the new team's position in any potential negotiations. Trump will also inherit the authority to support Ukraine with arms worth several billion dollars from his predecessor.
