Putin and his team tried to influence Trump - Volker
Former US Special Representative Kurt Volker said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin tried to use the interests of American companies to put pressure on Ukraine.
According to Censor.NET, he made this statement in an interview with Suspilne.
Volker noted that Putin and his team tried to influence Donald Trump.
"I think they tried to flatter him — and they succeeded. They undoubtedly fed Trump ideas about business opportunities in Russia for American companies. I think they believed that this would appeal to Trump. And they were right — he is interested in this," Volker explained.
According to him, Putin tried to persuade Trump to pressure Ukraine to make concessions in exchange for these business deals. But Trump did not fall for it, Volker added.
"He refused to put pressure on Ukraine. He told Putin, 'First end the war.' But Putin refused. So the conversation came back to a trilateral meeting," Volker said.
Also remind, that on the night of August 16 (Kyiv time), a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in a "three-on-three" format ended in Alaska. The leaders' talks lasted almost three hours.
Along with Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff were present, while Putin was accompanied by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and aide Yurii Ushakov.
Earlier, it was reported that Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders after talks with the Russian dictator. Trump also said that the conclusion of an agreement to end the war depends on Zelenskyy.
