A little more than a week from taking over the reins of government, the incoming US senior leadership headed by President-elect Donald J. Trump had shifted messaging on ending the Russo-Ukraine War from a deal done within a day to several months at least – but faith that the New York real estate baron’s negotiating skills will solve everything fast is still solid.
Matt Waltz, Trump’s newly designated National Security Advisor, in a Sunday interview with the US major broadcaster ABC, argued that the ground for negotiations is now fertile because “the world” has understood that combat in Ukraine and Russia should be stopped quickly and that “everyone” had acknowledged that an end to the fighting would not return all territories invaded by Russia to Ukrainian control.
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“It’s been striking to me, just since President Trump’s election, how many people have gone from, you know, just unqualified blank check, as long as it takes, whether that’s months, years, decades, in terms of perpetuating this war, which really has bogged down to a World War One style meat-grinder of people and resources, with World War Three consequences, to now even [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky walking in the room in Paris and saying ‘[Ukraine is] ready to work with you to end this war, let’s end it justly, responsibly and in a way that protects Ukraine’s future, but ends this thing, so the world can move on from it.’”
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Waltz said that Trump’s strategy would be to develop personal relationships with key players like Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to hammer out an agreement. Asked when Trump might meet with Putin, Waltz responded: “Well the preparations are underway. We haven’t set the exact framework for it yet. We’re working on that. But I do expect a call (from Kremlin representatives) at least in the coming days and weeks. So that would be a step. And we’ll take it from there.”
Waltz said that were Russia to prove unwilling to come to the negotiating table, the US might consider additional shipments of long-range strike weapons to Ukraine. He went on to state, incorrectly, that the minimum Ukrainian draft age is 26. The actual number is 25 years.
Waltz said a stabilized front and a combat-capable Ukrainian military are US priorities and to make that happen, Ukraine must draft more men: “When we hear about morale problems, when we hear about issues on the front line, look, if the Ukrainians have asked the entire world to be all-in for Democracy, we need them to be all-in for Democracy.
“They certainly have fought bravely. They certainly have taken a very noble and tough stand. But we need to see those manpower shortages addressed. This isn’t just about munitions, ammunition and writing more checks. It’s about seeing the front lines stabilized so that we can enter into some type of deal,” Waltz said.
Zelensky, in December comments on X, made in the wake of Trump’s election, said sending young soldiers into battle without weapons is a recipe for slaughter, and called on the US to arm Ukraine’s armed forces with the equipment it needs so that its military could halt and turn back Russian attacks.
According to Ukrainian government estimates, Kyiv has physically received only about half of the $61 billion worth of military hardware and assistance Washington has promised it would send following Russia’s February 2022 invasion, not helped by a US embargo on all military assistance to Ukraine from late December 2023 to late April 2024.
“There is a lot of talk in the media about lowering the draft age for Ukrainians to go to the front,” said Zelensky. “We should focus on equipping existing brigades with equipment and training personnel to use this equipment. We should not try to get around lack of equipment and training by just recruiting young soldiers.
“The priority should be the supply of missiles and reducing Russia’s fighting capacity, not lowering the draft age in Ukraine. The goal should be to save as many lives as possible, not to keep weapons in (US) stockpiles,” Zelensky said.
“We know that America can achieve extraordinary results – things that others have not. To succeed in ending this war, we need unity – the unity of America, Europe, and everyone in the world who values security – as well as a strong position and guarantee of peace,” Zelensky said. “I told President Trump that Putin fears only him.”
The Kyiv position is that it would never sign an agreement without iron-clad security guarantees that would deter Russia from invading again – like NATO membership.
On Jan. 7, during an hour-long press conference at his Florida resort, Trump signaled his possible agreement with adamant Kremlin opposition to Ukrainian membership in NATO, and personal opposition to a US commitment to future Ukrainian security either in or out of NATO.
Asked by a reporter if the US should give Ukraine security guarantees to protect Ukraine from further Russian aggression, Trump said:
“A big part of the problem was Russia for many, many, years, long before Putin, said you could never have NATO involved with Ukraine. They’ve said that...that’s been, like, written in stone. And somewhere along the line Biden said ‘No, they should be able to join NATO’. Well then, Russia has someone right on their doorstep. I could understand their feeling about that.” Trump then said he hopes to meet with Putin personally in the next six months.
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special negotiator for Ukraine, in Jan. 9 comments to Fox News said he would not make public details of discussions he may or may not have had with the President-elect on details and timings of a Trump-Putin summit.
He said the Trump administration wants to bring fighting in Russia and Ukraine to a halt quickly because of the danger the war might expand.
“I know I’m on the clock,” Kellog said. “And he [Trump] knows that he’s on the clock as well because he knows he wants to end it as quickly as he can... And I think he can do it in the near term. I really do have a lot of confidence in his ability to actually get to a position where this war is actually over.”
Kellogg went on to argue the Trump administration does not intend to manage a Ukrainian capitulation to Putin and Russia. The agreement that the US and Trump’s negotiating skills will engineer between Ukraine and Russia will be “fair and equitable” Kellogg said.
“That’s one great thing that the President (Trump) does, it’s that he speaks to allies and adversaries alike. And he knows it’s (a Russia-Ukraine peace) is a tough one,” said Kellogg. “But he knows you have to talk to people to get to an end state. And that’s what he’s going to do...
“I think they’re going to come to a solvable solution in the near term. And when I say ‘the near term,’ you know, I would like to set a goal, on a personal and a professional level, I would like to set a goal of 100 days.”
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