Donald Trump Pressured Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war. “Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and end the madness,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social profile, referring to Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelensky.
In a television interview that aired on Sunday, Trump also said he would be open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and withdrawing the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). These are two threats that have alarmed Ukraine, NATO allies and many members of the U.S. national security community.
Questioned on the program Meet the Pressyes NBCwhether he was actively working to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine, Trump said, “I am.”
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He declined to say whether he had spoken to Putin since winning the election in November. “I don’t want to say anything about it, because I don’t want to do anything that would impede the negotiation,” Trump said.
Actions in search of a ceasefire began before the inauguration
Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire went beyond the public policy positions adopted by the Biden administration and Ukraine and drew a cautious response from Zelensky. It also marks Trump’s unusual entry into efforts, ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration, to resolve one of the major global crises facing the Biden administration.
Trump made his proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, where many world leaders gathered to celebrate the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral after a devastating fire. None of the aides who traveled with him appeared to have specialized knowledge of Ukraine.
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Kiev would like to make a deal, Trump wrote in Truth Social. “There should be an immediate ceasefire, and negotiations should begin.”
“I know Vladimir well. This is the time for him to act. China can help. The world is waiting,” Trump added. He was referring to China’s mediation efforts that many in the West saw as favorable to Russia.
Zelenski described his Saturday discussions with Trump as “constructive” but did not elaborate. He warned that Ukraine needs a “just and solid peace, which the Russians will not destroy in a few years.”
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“When we talk about effective peace with Russia, we must talk, first of all, about effective guarantees of peace. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land,” he said on Sunday in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump’s post by repeating Moscow’s long-standing message that Russia is open to talks with Ukraine. Peskov referenced a Zelensky decree from October 2022 that declared the prospect of any negotiations as long as Putin was Russia’s leader “impossible”.
That decree came after Putin proclaimed four occupied regions of Ukraine as part of Russia, in what Kiev and the West said was a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.
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Former Trump adviser says there is no quick fix
Trump’s former national security adviser, retired military officer HR McMaster, warned that there is no quick solution to ending Russia’s war with Ukraine. “What concerns me is this kind of flawed idea that Putin can be placated, that he will come to some kind of agreement,” McMaster told Fox News Sunday.
“I think it’s very important that President Trump follows his instinct on this issue… peace through strength,” McMaster said adding, “How about giving them what they need to defend themselves and then telling Putin, ‘You’re going to lose this war?'”
While Trump has previously said he would like to see a quick ceasefire in Ukraine, his proposal on Sunday was framed as a direct appeal to Russia. The quick responses of Ukraine and Russia demonstrated how seriously they considered the American president-elect’s idea.
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Both Trump and President Joe Biden this weekend pointed to Russia’s disengagement in Syria, where the Russian military got out of the way while Syrian rebels overthrew the country’s president, a Russian ally, as evidence of the extent to which the war of Ukraine has exhausted Russia’s resources.
Biden said at the White House on Sunday that Ukraine’s resistance “has left Russia unable to protect its main ally in the Middle East.”
The Biden administration and other supporters of Ukraine have made a point of not pressuring Ukraine for an immediate truce. Ukraine’s allies fear that a quick deal would largely be on its more powerful neighbor’s terms, potentially forcing damaging concessions on Ukraine and allowing Russia to resume war again once it has regained its military strength.
Trump presents himself as capable of making quick deals to resolve conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East that have thwarted many of the Biden administration’s own mediation efforts.
There is no prohibition on new officials or appointees meeting with foreign officials, and it is common and good for them to do so – unless those meetings are intended to subvert or otherwise affect current U.S. policy.
The Logan Act prevents private citizens from attempting to intervene in “disputes or controversies” between the United States and foreign powers without government approval. But the 1799 statute produced only two criminal cases, none since the 1850s, and none resulted in a criminal conviction.
Trump says he does not see “continued participation” of the US in NATO
In the NBC interview recorded on Friday, 6, Trump renewed his warning to NATO allies that he did not see continued US participation in the Western military alliance as a given in his future administration.
Trump has long complained that the European and Canadian governments in the mutual defense bloc are taking advantage of military spending by the United States, by far NATO’s most powerful partner.
NATO and its member governments say most countries in the bloc are now meeting voluntary military spending targets in part due to pressure from Trump in his first term. Asked whether he would consider leaving NATO, Trump indicated that this was an open question. “If they are paying their bills and if I think they are treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely that I would stay in NATO,” he said.
But if not, he was asked if he would consider withdrawing the US from the alliance. Trump responded: “Absolutely. Yes definitely”.
