Zelensky challenges Trump to reveal alleged plan to end the conflict (war, day 861)
“If Trump knows how to end this war, he should tell us today,†declared the Ukrainian President, this Wednesday, in an interview with Bloomberg. Volodymyr Zelensky was reacting to information provided by ‘POLITICO’ that Donald Trump will be considering making an agreement with Russia to block the future accession to NATO of countries on its border, such as Ukraine and Georgia, if he returns to the White House.
This proposal, revealed to that newspaper, under anonymity, by those responsible “familiar with the thinking within Trump’s inner circle†, is the last of several that have been attributed to the former North American president as a way to reach a solution for peace in Ukraine. According to ‘The Kyiv Independent’, one of these plans would determine the cession of territories to Russia. In April, ‘The Washington Post’ had also reported, citing anonymous sources, that Trump had said privately that he could pressure Ukraine to give up Crimea and Donbass to achieve peace.
The Republican candidate has already promised to end the war in less than 24 hours, refusing to explain how he would do it and reaffirmed, in the first debate for the presidential elections, that he would be able to stop the conflict as President-elect, even before entering officially in office in January 2025. In the confrontation with Joe Biden, Trump said, however, that he disagreed with Russia’s terms for a ceasefire, which includes Ukraine’s renunciation of NATO membership and concessions of the four regions that are currently partially occupied by Russia, along with Crimea, illegally annexed in 2014.
Last week, two advisers close to Trump presented him with a plan to wage war, according to which the US would only continue to provide military support to Ukraine if it agreed to enter into peace negotiations with Russia, with the latter commit to participating in these talks under penalty of Washington increasing its support for Kiev.
“If there are risks to Ukrainian independence, if we lose our sovereignty, we want to be prepared for that, we want to know,†the Ukrainian President told Bloomberg. “We want to know if in November we will have strong US support or if we will be alone.â€
Ukraine refuses to make any agreement with Russia that would compromise its territorial integrity, the Ukrainian President’s chief of staff stressed again, quoted by ‘The Kyiv Independent’. “We are not willing to accept compromises regarding very important things and values: independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty,†said Andriy Yermak.
Asked about Ukraine’s opinion regarding Trump’s ability to negotiate peace in Ukraine, Zelensky’s chief of staff did not elaborate: “Honest answer: I don’t know. Let’s see.â€
The Kremlin spokesman denied, this Wednesday, that any talks are taking place between Trump and Putin about possible peace conditions between Ukraine and Russia, according to the Russian state agency Tass . Dmitry Peskov added that Moscow cannot comment on the aforementioned proposal “without knowing the essence of what is at stake†.
OTHER NEWS THAT MARKED THE DAY:
⇒ Russia and China once again showed a united front, this Wednesday, in Kazakhstan. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met for the second time in less than two months in Astana, under the pretext of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, after the Russian President visited China in May. Putin assured that relations between Moscow and Beijing are currently in the “best period in their history†. Before the meeting between the two leaders, the Kremlin spokesman highlighted the existing bilateral cooperation in all areas, “including sensitive ones†. According to Lusa, Putin and Xi have already met more than 40 times.
⇒ The UN Secretary General, who is visiting Central Asia, is also present at the OCS summit and may meet briefly with Vladimir Putin, although “there will be no plans for a separate bilateral meeting,” said Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Tass. António Guterres gave an interview to the Russian state agency in which he stated that “the problems that exist in the UN usually come from great powers†, noting that Russia “is a big country and a great power†.
⇒ NATO will ask Kiev for “additional steps†to move forward with accession negotiations as it considers that the country’s corruption levels remain too high, a senior official said. vel from the US State Department to the British newspaper ‘The Telegraph’. The position will be presented in writing in the NATO statement that will come out of the annual Atlantic Alliance summit, scheduled for July 9. Praising the reforms that Kiev has implemented in the last two years, the same source said that additional measures are needed, “particularly in the area of combating corruption†. “It is a priority for many of the countries around the table,†he highlighted.
