Trump will have hard time getting Zelenskyy and Putin to agree to "peace deal" - Times
Donald Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine within "one day" after taking office in January, but his promise of a "peace deal" is facing resistance from both sides.
This is reported by The Times, Censor.NET reports.
"No one, perhaps not even Donald Trump himself, knows exactly how the newly elected US president plans to fulfill his promise to end the war in Ukraine within one day of taking office," the publication notes.
Trump has staked his foreign policy reputation on ending the war as soon as possible, but his pledge to end the war in Ukraine faces opposition from both sides, according to The Times' Mark Bennetts.
Ukraine and Russia's resistance to Trump's "peace plan"
There are many obstacles to peace. In 2022, Zelenskyy signed a decree prohibiting Ukraine from negotiating with Russia while Putin is president.
He also said that Kyiv could formally cede territory to Russia only if such a move was approved in a national referendum, which opinion polls suggest is unlikely.
However, Washington has provided the vast majority of military aid to Ukraine, and Trump has suggested that he would cut off U.S. aid if Zelenskyy refuses to negotiate a ceasefire with Russia. Such a move would almost certainly lead to the end of large-scale Ukrainian resistance on the battlefield, the newspaper emphasizes.
"While Trump will have more leverage over Zelenskiy, it is unclear what incentives he can offer Putin to get him to stop his invasion," Bennetts writes.
Putin has said that peace is only possible if Ukraine gives up four regions in the south and east of the country, as well as Crimea.
The Russian dictator also demanded that Kyiv officially abandon any plans to join NATO. After Trump's election victory, he gave no indication that he was ready to soften his demands.
"Trump could change course in support of Ukraine and his stance on Russia," said Ed Arnold, a European security analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. "Zelenskyy has said he is not personally negotiating with Putin, but under pressure he could change his policy. But given where Russia and Ukraine are, there are very few issues they could potentially agree on."
As a reminder, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Trump will take a tougher stance on the war in Ukraine than he did during the election campaign and will not allow Putin to "roll through Ukraine."
