Trump ordered to organize phone call with Putin — CNN
The elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, has ordered his aides to organize phone call with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in the days following his inauguration. One of the goals of the conversation will be to discuss a face-to-face meeting in the coming months to try to end the war in Ukraine.
It was reported by CNN on Monday, January 20, with reference to its sources.
Organizing call between Trump and Putin
CNN writes that when he was a presidential candidate, Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours of being sworn in. However, on the eve of his inauguration, when there is little to indicate that the almost three-year war is close to ending, Trump is likely to break this vow.
Instead, the newly elected President of the United States and his team hope to quickly start working on a settlement plan that can be implemented during the first months of his Presidency, including through direct conversation with Putin.
Indeed, officials from Trump’s National Security team began working on a phone call with Putin a few weeks ago. It is unclear whether a date for the call has been set.
However, as soon as Trump takes office, US and Russian officials will be able to begin serious work on organizing a face-to-face meeting. Indeed, the newly elected President of the United States has already said that negotiations are being organized, but the Kremlin has said that it will wait until Trump takes office to begin formal preparations. Meanwhile, Switzerland and Serbia have said they are ready to host the guests.
As CNN writes, any negotiations between the two leaders would reflect a sharp break with the approach of the President of the United States, Joe Biden. He has not spoken directly to Putin for almost three years, fearing that such conversations might not contribute to resolving the conflict.
Trump sees the situation differently. His position, according to the source, is that direct interaction with Putin is exactly what is needed to find a solution and end the war.
It is largely unknown to what extent Trump plans to continue the Biden administration’s strategy of supplying weapons and intelligence to Kyiv. Also, apart from his position against Ukraine’s accession to NATO, he did not specify what security guarantees he was willing to offer that would be acceptable to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also did not specify who would pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction, although, judging by his previous statements, it is unlikely that it would be the United States.
As a reminder, tonight (Kyiv time), Trump delivered an address at his last rally before being sworn in. During his address, he reiterated that he would end the war in Ukraine.
We also wrote that the mood of bookies regarding the end of the war in Ukraine has deteriorated. While a few months ago, about 50% of them believed that Trump would end the war within 90 days of his inauguration, today this figure has dropped to 29%.