Speaking to reporters at the White House after his inauguration, Trump suggested he could speak with Putin soon, without providing a specific time frame.
“He should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal,” Trump said. “I think Russia’s going to be in big trouble.”
Trump added that most observers initially believed the war would end in a week. “He’d be very well off to end that war,” he said, voicing his most critical public remarks on the conflict to date.
Moscow has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the war, incurred an estimated 700,000 casualties, and lost access to key European gas markets as well as Western financial systems—factors that have weakened the ruble and rattled neighbors. The Kremlin is also devoting around 40 percent of its budget to defense, struggling with high inflation despite interest rates above 20 percent.
Possible Trump-Putin dialogue
Trump indicated he might soon speak with Putin—whom he has often praised—though he did not set a date. “I got along with [Putin] great. I would hope he wants to make a deal,” he said. Western leaders, apart from right-wing figures such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—an ally of Trump—have mostly refrained from in-person meetings or regular calls with Putin in an effort to diplomatically isolate him.
A quick end to the war?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Trump he also seeks a peace settlement, according to the U.S. president. Trump had promised during his presidential campaign to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office, though he has since tempered that rhetoric, still pledging a swift conclusion.
Analysts doubt a near-term resolution, pointing out that Putin believes he’s winning. “When the Trump team starts engaging, they will find convincing Putin to abandon his goal of subjugating all of Ukraine will be the hardest thing,” said Mikhail Alexseev, a Russia-Ukraine expert at San Diego State University. Alexseev added that if Trump aims to end the war, he may have little choice but to continue substantial aid to Ukraine.
(jh)
Source: RFE/RL, AFP