US President-elect Donald Trump has instructed his aides to arrange a call with Vladimir Putin shortly after taking the oath.
This is reported by CNN.
Trump is seeking to discuss a personal meeting with the Russian leader "in the coming months" to try to end the war in Ukraine, the publicationʼs sources report.
The American politician promised to end the conflict within a day of his inauguration. However, there is little indication that the war can end, so it is highly likely that Trump will break his promise, writes CNN.
Earlier, the US president-elect said that the organization of negotiations with the Russian side is already underway. In turn, the Kremlin said that they will wait for Trumpʼs official return to the White House to begin preparations. Switzerland and Serbia are ready to host the leaders.
Any talks between them would mark a sharp departure from the policies of President Joe Biden, who has not spoken directly with Putin for nearly three years.
- In January, The Hill reported that the US president-elect could offer Putin cooperation in the space industry in exchange for signing a peace agreement with Ukraine.
What are Trumpʼs plans for the war in Ukraine?
During his election campaign, Trump claimed that he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in one day.” After the Republican won the US presidential election, the WSJ reported that he had not decided exactly how he planned to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Some of his advisers have proposed a model where the US would provide weapons to the Ukrainians in exchange for Ukraine not joining NATO for 20 years. Under this plan, the front line would be frozen and both sides would agree to a 1,287-kilometer demilitarized zone.
The WSJ noted that all of Trumpʼs advisorsʼ plans involve freezing the conflict and temporarily refusing Ukraineʼs entry into the Alliance.
Previously, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stressed that Ukraine will defend its integrity and will not cede its territories to Russia. As for NATO, Zelenskyy considers Ukraineʼs accession to the Alliance a fair "payment" for the fact that the country gave up all its nuclear weapons in 1996. According to him, NATO membership is currently better than any weapons, including nuclear ones.
In September, Zelenskyy met with Donald Trump and presented him with a victory plan. According to the Ukrainian leader, the meeting was very resultative.