President-elect Trump: Russia-Ukraine conflict must end

President-elect Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters).

“We’re going to solve the Middle East problem and we’re going to work very hard on Russia and Ukraine,” President-elect Donald Trump declared at an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on November 14.

Mr. Trump stressed that the Russia-Ukraine conflict “must end.”

The president-elect added that he had seen a report that said “thousands of people have died” in the past three days.

“They are soldiers, but whether they are soldiers or civilians, we are going to have to deal with this,” Mr. Trump declared.

Gennady Gatilov, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations agency in Geneva, said on November 14 that Russia is ready to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict as proposed by President-elect Trump, but it must be based on the reality of Moscow's progress.

Any negotiations must be based on what Mr Gatilov called “facts on the ground”. Ukraine, he said, was in a weak position in its nearly three-year conflict with Russia. Meanwhile, Russia has advanced at its fastest pace since the beginning of the conflict. Moscow now controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory.

President-elect Trump has repeatedly criticized Washington’s unconditional aid to Kiev and vowed to quickly end the conflict. To do so, he could force Kiev to suspend its NATO membership ambitions and freeze fighting along the current front lines.

During his campaign, Mr. Trump repeatedly pledged to end the conflict in Ukraine “within 24 hours” if elected. Mr. Trump did not explain how he would fulfill this pledge, although he said he would use his “great relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to broker a peace deal.

Mr Trump spoke with President Zelensky last week and told NBC News that he would likely speak with President Putin in the near future. Mr Putin congratulated Mr Trump on his election victory and told reporters that he was ready to talk to the US president-elect.

While the Kremlin has repeatedly cast doubt on suggestions that Mr Trump could easily end the conflict with Ukraine, President Putin said Mr Trump’s statements on the issue were “at least worth paying attention to”.

It is unclear what kind of solution Mr Trump will push for in the conflict. During the campaign, Vice President-elect JD Vance suggested declaring a ceasefire and establishing a demilitarised zone along the current 1,300km frontline, with Ukraine being denied NATO membership.

President Zelensky recently laid out a “victory plan,” which included proposals such as Russia withdrawing all its troops from Ukraine and Ukraine being immediately invited to join NATO.

Western leaders have not been enthusiastic about these proposals. Moscow has also rejected Ukraine’s “victory plan” as not a prelude to negotiations, but a recipe for direct conflict between Russia and NATO.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on November 15 that Ukraine is fighting to regain all the territory controlled by Russia over the past decade.

“Territorial integrity is part of our values,” Ukraine’s defense minister said at a joint press conference with his Norwegian counterpart in Oslo.

“Our priority remains to protect our people, to protect our country, to keep Crimea and Donbass part of Ukraine,” Umerov said.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/tong-thong-dac-cu-trump-xung-dot-nga-ukraine-phai-cham-dut-20241115191459705.htm