Trump gears up for pivotal talks with Putin amidst tensions
President-elect of the USA, Donald Trump, announced on Thursday that he is preparing for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, who has also expressed interest in meeting. "We have to get that war over with," Trump declared.
"President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That's a bloody mess," said Trump before a meeting with Republican state governors at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, as quoted by Reuters.
Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to meet with the Russian president, but until now, he had not revealed that he is already arranging the details. During Monday's press conference, the president-elect shared his frustration that he must wait to talk with Putin until he officially takes office.
At the same time, he predicted that ending the war in Ukraine could take him up to six months, although, during the election campaign, he promised to accomplish it within a day or even before his formal inauguration.
Some Ukrainian and American commentators pointed out that on Monday, Trump expressed understanding of Russia's "feelings" and concerns about Ukraine's potential NATO membership. Trump also claimed that Joe Biden's decision to rule out blocking Ukraine's path to NATO was the reason for Russian aggression. He did not want to say whether he would support Ukraine while negotiations were ongoing.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden's administration is planning to announce another package of sanctions against Russia soon, aiming to strengthen the new team's position in any potential negotiations. Trump will also inherit the authority to support Ukraine with arms worth several billion dollars from his predecessor.
