“Putin said the day before that he is open to a dialogue with the Trump administration regarding Ukraine”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Putin convened a meeting of the Russian Security Council on January 20, at which he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed Russia’s readiness to participate in peace talks with the new US presidential administration led by President Donald Trump. Putin warned that any peace settlement must “eliminate the root causes” of the war in Ukraine. On December 26, Lavrov defined these root causes as NATO’s alleged violation of its commitment not to expand to the east and alleged discrimination by the Ukrainian government against ethnic Russians and the Russian language, mass media, and culture in Ukraine,” the report says.
At the same time, analysts note that senior Kremlin officials, including Putin and Lavrov, have reiterated in recent weeks that the Kremlin refuses to consider any compromises on Putin’s demands made in late 2021 and early 2022, demanding that Ukraine remain permanently “neutral.” and did not join NATO, adopted strict restrictions on the size of the Ukrainian army and eliminated the current Ukrainian the government
“Putin himself said on December 26 that the then US President Joe Biden in 2021 offered him to delay Ukraine’s membership in NATO for 10-15 years, this once again demonstrated that the alleged threats of NATO expansion did not actually motivate Putin to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 year,” ISW noted.
The other day, the CNN channel, citing sources, reported that Trump instructed his aides to arrange a telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. According to them, the newly elected US president wants to talk to the president of the Russian Federation in the first days after the inauguration to discuss a personal meeting. It is claimed that Trump is expected to quickly start work on the settlement of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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According to Trump’s future national security adviser, Mike Waltz, he is expected to speak with Putin in the coming days or weeks.
During the election campaign, Donald Trump stated that he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. However, at a press conference on January 7, he said he hoped to end hostilities within six months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi previously said that Trump could play a decisive role in ending the war with Russia and help stop Putin.
On January 16, Zelensky said there was a chance to end the war in 2025, as US President-elect Donald Trump could pressure Russia on the issue.
“Trump can force. We must agree with Trump that there are specific security guarantees for Ukraine and he must force Putin to engage in diplomacy and end this war. But Trump, I believe, is capable and, God willing, he will be able to do it – to offer Ukraine real security guarantees,” the president of Ukraine believes.
Analysts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) proved that the Kremlin does not want to make compromises in the war against Ukraine, but wants its complete surrender.