Once again president of the United States, Donald Trump wishes to negotiate peace between Ukraine and Russia, without defending Ukrainian interests.
Will Ukraine have to cede territory to Russia? Already in a bad position on the ground, it finds itself weakened by the end of the unwavering support of one of its greatest allies: with the inauguration of Donald Trump in the White House, the United States wants to quickly put an end to the war in Ukraine, even if it means undermining Ukrainian interests.
The new US president is wielding both the carrot and the stick towards Moscow. On the one hand, he threatens Russia with economic sanctions as well as tax increases and customs duties to end the war. Donald Trump believes, for example, that oil prices must be lowered to hit Moscow’s wallet and immediately end the conflict, reports International Mail. On the other hand, he assures that he is not trying to “hurt Russia”. “I love the Russian people and have always had a very good relationship with President Putin,” he said Wednesday, January 22, in a message published on Truth Social. An assumed ambiguity from Donald Trump who keeps repeating that he wants to speak “very soon” with his Russian counterpart.
If he wishes to negotiate peace, Donald Trump maintains vagueness about his position, both vis-à-vis Russia and Ukraine. Nothing guarantees kyiv that the American president will defend Ukrainian interests as much as Joe Biden did, on the contrary. Donald Trump has always been critical of the aid sent by the United States, put in place by his predecessor, and he froze all new military aid to Ukraine for the next three months. Therefore, the Ukrainian position is unfavorable.
The country is losing ground against Russia, and its faithful ally – until then – could well force it to the negotiating table. Ukraine is afraid of being forced to cede territory, an outcome of the war that it considers unacceptable. If Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly mentioned being in favor of negotiations with Russia – which Donald Trump recalled – this was always accompanied by solid security guarantees from the West, recalls West France. The arrival of the billionaire at the White House could completely reshuffle the cards.
Still no timetable to negotiate
Are Russian-US negotiations possible? “Putin is ready” to meet Donald Trump, declared Friday January 24 the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov. “We are waiting for signals [de Washington]. Everyone is ready.” And this despite the billionaire’s call to hit Russia in the wallet: the conflict “does not depend on oil prices”, replied the Kremlin, the invasion “stems from a threat to Russian national security”. Moscow is ready, Washington is too. The two already made this known last November after Donald Trump’s victory in the American presidential election, but nothing is moving.
No timetable for negotiations is yet planned after these numerous calls for discussion. This Friday, the Kremlin put the ball back in the White House’s court now that Donald Trump has been officially inaugurated. It remains to be seen whether the two leaders will organize a meeting soon, because there is no guarantee that it will really take place, or that it will take place quickly. Enough to give Ukraine a little more time to try to regain the advantage on the ground or to consolidate its alliances and gain weight in the negotiations.