The US President Donald Trump gave a major interview to Time magazine on his 100th day in office. In it, Trump reiterates that the war in Ukraine is “not his war” and talks about the prospects for peace. Babel retells the main points of what he said about Ukraine.
Ending the war in 24 hours is one of Donald Trumpʼs campaign promises, which he repeatedly repeated. However, this deadline was constantly postponed. Now Trump has said that he was talking about 24 hours "figuratively".
"I said it figuratively, and I said it as an exaggeration. Obviously, people know that when I said it, it was said in jest. But it was also said that it [the war] would end."
Trump believes that the war will not last long, and peace is possible, even if Putin remains the leader of the Russian Federation.
"He [Putin] would have preferred to do it differently — just take the whole country. And I think thatʼs where I can make a deal. Weʼve had very good negotiations and are getting close to a deal," Trump added, answering the question of whether Putin is ready for peace.
Trump also says that peace is possible under Zelenskyʼs presidency. He thinks they are "making a deal".
At the same time, the American president “does not think” that Ukraine “will ever be allowed to join NATO”. In his opinion, talks about joining the Alliance were the reason for the start of the war.
"I donʼt think they [Ukrainians] will ever be able to join NATO. I think the war started when they started talking about joining NATO. If they hadnʼt talked about it, there would have been a much better chance that it wouldnʼt have started," Trump believes.
He is also convinced that Crimea has already been "passed" to Russia — even under US President Barack Obama. And that Zelensky supposedly understands this.
"Crimea went to Russia — it was ʼgivenʼ to them by Barack Hussein Obama, not me. Can they get it back? Doubtful. The Russians were there a long time ago, even before we started talking about it. The majority of the population there speaks Russian. But again, Obama did it, not me. If I were president, this wouldnʼt have happened," Trump repeated.
The United States is not currently negotiating with Russia on issues that do not concern Ukraine, Trump added. However, Washington is ready to work with both Ukraine and Russia after a peace agreement.
Ceasefire negotiations
Washington is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to end the war, but a true ceasefire is still in sight. Kyiv has already agreed to halt hostilities in the Black Sea and not attack Russian energy facilities during a 30-day truce. Moscow, in return, has only promised not to attack energy facilities and said it would implement the Black Sea agreements only after Western sanctions are lifted.
According to Bloomberg, the US side has presented its allies with a proposal for a settlement in Ukraine, which includes conditions for a cessation of hostilities and easing of sanctions against Russia. This proposal would effectively freeze the war, and the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia would remain under Moscowʼs control, the publicationʼs sources said.
Washington was expected to propose recognizing illegally annexed Crimea as part of the Russian Federation and freezing the front line as part of a peace agreement as early as April 23, as reported by The Washington Post. Zelensky stressed that Ukraine had not received any official proposals to exchange or give up territories, and Kyiv does not legally recognize Russiaʼs annexation of Crimea.
Trump criticized Zelensky for his statement that Ukraine does not legally recognize Crimea as Russian. The American president is convinced that this statement is "very damaging to peace negotiations with Russia" and that Crimea "was lost during the presidency of Barack Obama".
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