United States presidential election winner Donald Trump is likely to call Russian President Vladimir Putin and ask him to stop the war in Ukraine as soon as possible, stressing the need for peace, a former American diplomat said.
This comes after Republican nominee Donald Trump clinched victory in the US presidential elections on Thursday (Nov 6).
The incoming American president is “going to make a phone call to Putin as quickly as possible and tell Putin that he needs to stop the war, that the fighting has to stop, and that there has to be peace,” Kurt Volker, former US special representative for Ukraine negotiations, said.
He added that Trump does not want to see the Ukraine war continue once he is in office, emphasising that Putin would inevitably have “demands” and that this would only be the start of the conversation.
Trump-Russia call expected in January: Kremlin
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday (Nov 6) pointed out that Putin might speak with Trump before his inauguration in January, however adding that the Russian president will not initiate contact, reported The Moscow Times.
“It’s not ruled out,” Peskov told reporters when asked about possible contact between Putin and Trump before the January 20 inauguration.
“(Trump) has said he’d call Putin before the inauguration. These are his words, we have nothing else to say here yet,” Peskov said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesperson said that Putin remains “open” to contact with Trump, further indicating that Russia would not initiate re-establishing the communication between the two.
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Trump’s advisors propose to freeze Russia-Ukraine war
Former US president’s advisors have put forward several proposals that would effectively freeze the war in Ukraine, strengthening Russia’s territorial gains, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources close to Trump.
One proposal from within Trump’s transition team involves allowing Moscow to maintain control over 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, establishing a 1,399-kilometre “demilitarised zone” and blocking Ukraine’s NATO membership for 20 years, and all this would be in exchange for continued military aid to deter future Russian aggression, according to WSJ.
However, the plan does not include US troops policing the demilitarised zone. It further does not include funding from the US or international bodies like the United Nations, a Trump transition team member reportedly said.
“We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British, and French to do it,” the person was quoted as saying. “We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European.”
Trump has been criticising US President Joe Biden’s way of handling the Russia-Ukraine war, and vowed multiple times during his campaign, that if elected, he would end the war before taking office in January.
Earlier, he also that his “good relationship” with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be central to his ability to end the war quickly.
(With inputs from agencies)
