“A war of attrition is not his story.” With Trump, we will have much greater risks, but chances and opportunities too — interview with Klimkin

— Trump won. We have to look at how the relations between the United States and Ukraine, the new administration of Donald Trump and Ukrainian top officials will develop further. Are we most likely to expect Trump to call Putin? Should this be one of his first steps regarding Ukraine?

— Why do you think that Trump will start with this? And the second: if he even talks to Putin, why will our question be heard first?

Trump has repeatedly said that he wants to separate Russia from China, for example. He cannot afford to be weak, let alone appear weak, because it does not affect his constituents and Americans in general. Trump cannot afford to make drastic moves without having a strong position because he is a businessman.

He understands geopolitics as “you to me, I to you.” But in order to start with “you – me, I – you”, you need to understand what strengths and trump cards he has. Therefore, zero-sum geopolitics will begin now. And Trump always either got it right or it didn’t, but he likes to play it. And in general, the very logic of geopolitics will look somewhat different now.

Trump is not a fan of Iran, certainly not a fan of Comrade Kim Jong Un (leader of the DPRK — Ed.). So his view of the world will be quite radically different from today’s administration.

Infographic: NV

Regarding us. Administration logic [чинного президента Джо] Biden’s is a logic that leads to a war of attrition. And with what they did for us – both in terms of weapons and in many other things – this is, of course, something that will go down in history.

But Trump is not a fan of any long processes, he definitely understands that a war of attrition is not his story. And a significant number of Republicans, including him, are not ready to pay for a war of attrition. Therefore, tactics and strategy, but especially Trump’s tactics, will be fundamentally different.

— We have already seen a certain reaction from our enemy, the Russians. quoted Putin’s press secretary, Peskov, who said: “We are not sure whether Putin will welcome Trump, because this is not a friendly country.” The Russian independent publication Verstka, citing its sources in the Kremlin, say that Putin, Medvedev and several other officials congratulated Trump through acquaintances in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fact that there may not be an official greeting, knowing Trump and the fact that he is a very self-loving and self-centered person, what could that mean? How can it be interpreted?