Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin called themselves to negotiate peace in Ukraine, without the interested party. Volodymyr Zelensky plans to meet his Russian counterpart, on one condition.
For Ukraine, it is clear: “We will have little chance of surviving without the support of the United States,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with CNN on Saturday, February 15. However, since the nomination of Donald Trump in January, the United States has been standing out more and more from their ally to get closer to Russia, which has been working in Ukraine for three years. This forces the hand of the Ukrainians to come to the negotiating table, Place Donald Trump as master of the game … and puts Vladimir Putin in a position of strength.
Because the two leaders maintained this week by phone this week in order to set up peace negotiations. A discussion that should have been made with Ukraine and Europe, as the Nordic countries support it in a joint statement on Friday, February 14, as well as France and Volodymyr Zelensky. Because he feels it well: his position weakens, as well as his alliances. And the Ukrainian president must mourn the entry of his country into NATO, as said by the new American defense secretary Pete Hegseth.
“The return to the borders of Ukraine before 2014 is an unrealistic objective”
Volodymyr Zelensky therefore uses all the cards he has in hand to try to keep some weight in the military and diplomatic war which opposes Russia. He has been showing himself more and more open to negotiations for a few weeks. But not without conditions. Friday, at the Munich security conference, that is what he recalled: “I will meet the Russians – one Russian, Putin – but only once we have a common plan with Trump, with Europe. “”
Is it still possible to have the United States in allies, when it negotiates alone with Russia? For Claudia Major, military expert of the Science and Politics Foundation on German public radio, the question is above all: “If decisions, on which all the allies agreed, are swept away by the hand by the United States, what does this mean for other promises made to Europe, Ukraine or allies around the world? “, She wonders, words cited by Les Echos.
Donald Trump seems to want to position himself in sheriff, leading negotiations alone. The US head of state even gave his personal phone number to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Friday. Adding that the billionaire assured him that he could “call him at any time”. But he may have to return to his initial claims, namely to keep the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Pete Hegseth had indeed claimed that “we must start by recognizing that the return to the borders of Ukraine before 2014 is an unrealistic objective”.
What about Europe? If Ukraine wishes to keep her ally with her in negotiations, little space seems to be given to her with a Donald Trump to controllers. “The time of Europe is over,” even delighted the former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev.