Kamala Harris Defeated, Trump Turns Focus to Ukraine Crisis with Surprising Outreach to Putin
11 November 2024, New Delhi
Moscow is under pressure from the US president-elect not to escalate its war in Ukraine, according to the Washington Post.
According to the report, the call was held on Thursday from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, just days after his startling victory over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
The transition team’s spokespersons did not instantly respond when asked by AFP for a comment.
Citing several anonymous sources who were familiar with the call, the Post reported that Trump reminded Putin of the sizable US military presence in Europe.
They said he expressed interest in further talks to discuss resolving the war in Ukraine soon.
Some analysts expect Trump’s election to end the nearly three-year-old conflict with Ukraine, as he pushes for a quick end to fighting and questions the multi-billion-dollar US aid for Kyiv.
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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Trump on Wednesday, with a notable participation from Trump’s billionaire backer Elon Musk.
Zelensky described the call as “excellent,” saying he and Trump had agreed to “maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation.”
The outgoing Democratic administration of President Joe Biden has confirmed it will send as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The larger share of the earlier operation seems to be a bit distorted. And it is true that the Russian authorities are accusing the Ukrainian versions of delivering 34 drones Saturday night on the Russian capital area.
Trump, on his part, “sort of raised the issue of land” when he spoke to Putin, according to the Post, which did not go into further specifics.
In recent months, both sides in the war have engaged in moves seen as possible grappling accretions for better outcomes in eventual negotiations, with Ukraine claiming a chunk of Russian territory and Moscow’s forces upping their offensive on adjacent Ukraine.
This weekend featured the largest drone attack observed thus far from both sides.
He stated that this would involve using the remaining $6 billion of available Ukraine funding.
The Russian government gave cautious but optimistic approval of Trump’s return. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Sunday: “The signals are positive… At least he talks about peace, not conspiracy.”
During his campaign, Trump has said repeatedly that he would end the Ukraine war swiftly and even before coming into office, although he has never explained how he hopes to achieve this.
Trump and his aides denounce U.S. funding of Ukraine as helping to fund a corrupt nexus of pro-war defense contractors and hawkish foreign realists.
Donald Trump Jr. shared a video on an Instagram Stories post on Saturday showing Zelensky standing close to the president-elect, with the caption: “POV: You are only 38 days away from losing your allowance.”
An early deal in Ukraine is likely to see Kyiv concede some of the lost territories in the south and east of Ukraine.
A former adviser to Trump, Bryan Lanza, told the BBC on Saturday the admission that Ukraine should give up plans on regaining Crimea occupied by Russia in 2014.
Although the Trump transition team later stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of the president-elect, he stated that the US is prioritizing securing peace to halt the bloodshed.
Kyiv, challenged woefully by a shortage of manpower and ambiguity on the support of the US, has always refused to negotiate on territory; its European allies and arms suppliers, such as Britain and France, are already nervous about any unilateral moves by Trump.
Zelensky has expressed that other demands from the Kremlin and land concessions would embolden the Kremlin to unleash even greater attacks, a sentiment shared by several European allies.
In his special telephone call with President Putin, Trump mentioned “the issue of the land” briefly, reported the Post, without further elaboration.
In recent months, movements from both sides of the war were seen as showings of strength ahead of future negotiations, as Ukraine seized a chunk of Russian territory while Russian troops advanced in Ukraine.
The largest drone attacks to date have been launched by both sides this past weekend.
According to President Zelensky, Russia launched 145 drones on Ukraine overnight, while on the other hand, Russia reported shooting down 34 Ukrainian drones that were attacking Moscow.
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