He asserts that Putin “will make concessions” like “everyone else” and that he won’t go for “everything” unless an agreement is reached.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it “doesn’t seem likely” that a security agreement will be reached between Russia and Ukraine, but argued that “if we don’t meet, nothing is going to happen” in terms of possible progress towards an eventual ceasefire.
“I had a good meeting, but I’ve had numerous good meetings with President (Ukrainian, Volodymyr) Zelensky,” he said from Air Force One, hours after their meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Asked about a possible security agreement between Russia and Ukraine, he lamented that “it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.”
Despite this, the White House occupant did not want to downplay the trilateral meeting that Russian, Ukrainian, and US representatives will hold this weekend in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. “Whenever we meet, it’s good. If we don’t meet, nothing is going to happen. (…) We’ll meet and see what happens; I hope we can save many lives,” he said, while avoiding commenting on whether the aforementioned trilateral talks could lead to a summit between himself, Zelensky, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump stressed that the Russian leader “at this moment, will make concessions,” since “everyone is making concessions to get” a peace agreement. “I thought Putin wanted everything (and) maybe he does,” he indicated a few minutes later, after which he argued that “he’s not going to get to that unless we reach an agreement.” On the other hand, the Republican magnate asserted that “Europe is going to be part of it, it has to be part of it,” hours after Zelenskyy denounced in Davos the continent’s lack of action to guarantee its own defense and stop Moscow, insisting that it still depends on Washington’s military power.
Trump avoided echoing the Ukrainian leader’s complaints, but assured that he is mediating between Moscow and Kyiv “for Europe.” “It’s more for Europe than for me. I’m doing this more for Europe than for myself,” he insisted, before clarifying that he is doing it “in a secondary capacity,” in terms of his priorities as president.
“I’m not doing it so much because it doesn’t affect us much, except for the loss of life,” he maintained, arguing that “it’s thousands of miles away” and that “an ocean separates us.” Nevertheless, he asserted that he has “the ability to accomplish things” like peace between Russia and Ukraine. “We’ll see if I can pull it off,” he added.
