“Oleksandr Merezhko believes that one of the worst scenarios is when Trump and Putin manage to come to an agreement “at the expense of Ukraine””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Merezhko made such a statement on the air of Radio Svoboda (“Freedom. Morning” project).
“Everything can happen in politics, unfortunately. But we have to fight so that the newly elected president also adheres to this extremely important principle. Because the situation of 1938 should not repeat itself, as with Czechoslovakia. What happened at the time in Munich should not be repeated. And then precisely the fate of the country, the issues of its territorial integrity were decided differently, in fact without the participation of the country itself. This cannot be allowed under any circumstances,” said the People’s Deputy.
Oleksandr Merezhko believes that one of the worst scenarios is when Trump and Putin manage to come to an agreement “at the expense of Ukraine.” He emphasized that it is important for Trump to understand that “Putin wants to destroy the statehood of Ukraine” and will not stop.
“There can be different scenarios, one such scenario is that Trump and Putin will manage to come to an agreement at the expense of Ukraine. This could indeed be the worst case scenario, but I don’t believe it. Because Putin is not interested in seizing and annexing part of the territories of Ukraine. Putin wants to destroy the statehood of Ukraine as such, this is his main goal. And he won’t stop. As long as Putin is in power, there is a threat to the existence of Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation. I hope Trump understands this by now. Perhaps, due to some inertia, he continues to play the same game that he started during the election campaign. Or will realize it in the near future,” Merezhko said.
When asked whether negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are possible, Oleksandr Merezhko answered: “who knows?”, because “the internal situation in Russia can change at any time, and a completely different person can be at the head of Russia.” But, according to him, “any person who has authority” can represent Ukraine at such negotiations, including one of the managers of the President’s Office.
“Ukraine can be represented by any person who has the appropriate powers. For example, the powers granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, or any person who has the authority. Any citizen of Ukraine, not only even a citizen, if we speak from the point of view of international law. The main thing is that there should be official powers for representation in the negotiations,” said the politician.
On January 9, US President-elect Donald Trump said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants to meet with him.
“We’re organizing it,” Trump said at a meeting with Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He did not specify the terms of possible negotiations.
The Kremlin has not yet commented on Trump’s new statement. However, on January 9, the spokesman of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmytro Peskov, said that Putin welcomes Trump’s desire to establish contacts, but so far no official requests have been made to the Kremlin. “If, after taking office, the political will to restore contacts at the highest level remains, then, of course, President Putin will only welcome it,” he said, noting that it would be appropriate to wait until Trump takes office.
During the election campaign, the newly elected president said that he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. Trump said at a press conference that he hopes to end hostilities within six months.
“I hope much sooner than six months,” Trump said when asked if he could resolve the war within six months.
Trump’s return to the White House brings with it uncertainty about what impact it will have on the nearly three-year-old war and potential negotiations. But Trump said he was determined to “fix it,” adding that it was “hard.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi previously said that Trump could play a decisive role in ending the war with Russia and help stop Putin.
In an interview with the American podcaster Lex Friedman published on January 5, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the first negotiations on the end of the war will be with the newly elected US President Donald Trump.
“I think, on January 25 or another day, we will sit down first of all with Trump. We agree on how we can stop the war and Putin,” he said.
The president emphasized: “if Trump offers strong security guarantees for Ukraine, then after that there can be a conversation with the Russians.” “And only like that, not just the three of them sat down at once,” he added.
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.