Trump seeks meeting with Putin as Biden announces aid package for Kiev


The souvenir shop owner displayed matryoshka dolls of U.S. presidents including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Misha Friedman | Getty Images News | Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump raised the possibility of meeting Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to end the “bloody chaos” in Ukraine, while outgoing Joe Biden’s administration pushed for a crackdown on the battered ally Kyiv’s final aid package.

“He wants to meet … and we’re arranging it,” Trump said at a press conference on Thursday, noting that he would rather postpone the meeting until after the presidential inauguration on January 20. It has not yet been decided whether to meet. The meeting will be held in the form of a summit or a state visit.

“President Putin wants to meet. He’s even said so in public. We have to end this war, it’s such a mess,” Trump said.

Trump’s relationship with Putin has historically been cordial than that of many Western heads of state, who have grown increasingly distant from the Kremlin since Moscow invaded its eastern European neighbors in February 2022.

Trump’s relationship with Putin has come under scrutiny as the special counsel conducted a nearly two-year investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump, who won the vote, dismissed suggestions that he was influenced by the Kremlin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Google Translate on Friday that Putin was ready to meet Trump without reservations Comment Russian state news agency TASS reported. He added that the specific details of such a settlement No agreement yet and could take place before Trump’s inauguration, noting that Russia welcomes the president-elect’s intention to withdraw from talks.

U.S. needs to make good on Ukraine commitments and make them work again: former Texas senator

Western-led efforts to mediate a peace arrangement, and the respective frameworks of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and influential Chinese mediator Xi Jinping, have yet to gain mutual acceptance or bear fruit. Moscow and Kiev have so far drawn conflicting red lines, refusing to join the negotiating table unless they are allowed to keep the annexed territories or until Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory.

Trump’s openness to contacting Putin marks a departure from the relationship that has been dominated by the administration of Biden over the past two years, who has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine throughout the conflict.

The Biden administration has pledged some $65.9 billion in security aid to Kyiv since the invasion began As of January 8. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced $500 million in aid to UkraineThere are only 10 days left before Biden is scheduled to exit the White House.

Questions remain about the extent of U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s devastating war. The war, which enters its third year next month, has indirectly driven a spike in energy prices and global inflation due to Western sanctions on Russian resources. Trump has previously claimed he could resolve Ukraine’s devastating war within an ambitious “24-hour” deadline, but has not revealed his approach or proposed a specific ceasefire.

He also strongly criticized U.S. spending to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses, questioned the United States’ continued participation in the NATO military alliance, and at one point called Zelensky “probably the greatest politician of all time,” alluding to the aid provided to of Ukraine. Ukraine is the result of the political strength of its leaders rather than the actual needs of their country.

Taken together, Trump’s rhetoric and nascent signs of trade nationalism have fueled broader concerns that potential pressure from the White House or a withdrawal of U.S. military support could tempt resource-dependent Kyiv into a diplomatic endgame that could include conceding territory to an aggressor. .

Ukraine expects a meeting between Trump and Zelensky to take place soon after the U.S. president-elect is inaugurated, Ukrainian ministry spokesman Kheochy Tihey said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Correction: On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced $500 million in aid to Ukraine. An earlier version incorrectly described this number.



Source link

  • Related Posts

    U.S. Supreme Court criticizes TikTok’s arguments against impending ban Social Media News

    A U.S. Supreme Court judge has cast doubt on a challenge by video-sharing platform TikTok as it seeks to overturn a law that would force sales or ban the app…

    Trump’s territorial design, what happens to Musk and Zuckerberg?

    We have 10 days BT: Before Trump returns to office. And this week, the president-elect was given an unconditional discharge, spared jail or fines, but it was confirmed that he…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *