The dialogue with Putin – according to the words of the Republican – also touched other hot themes, such as “missiles and nuclear”. On the table, however, the most urgent knot remains: the war in Ukraine. But for the tycoon, one of the main problems is the total absence of interlocution between the two real protagonists of the conflict: “Putin does not want to speak with Zelensky because he doesn’t like it. The two don’t like them,” he said. Not only that. “They should meet before I have a meeting, and probably concludes an agreement.” But not only that, because Trump has not spared criticism from the Ukrainian president. “It was the largest seller in the world”, attacked the president, adding: “Every time he left the White House, millions of dollars took away”. Then the announcement: “We no longer pay a pay to Ukraine, indeed it is the opposite. We don’t spend more money for Ukraine. Now we sell weapons to NATO”.
A clear message that marks a steering compared to the Biden line: end of rain funding and just white checks. But this does not mean that Washington unloads Kiev, because otherwise the Tycoon would have decided to make aside definitively, without continuing to mediate between the two countries in war and to invoke a top for the final white smoke. But it’s much easier to say that “Trump Zelensky spring”, without trying to read between the lines.
From the opposite front, Zelensky tries not to lose ground. He says he is ready for a direct meeting with Putin, but immediately puts the dots on the “I”: “This is the format necessary to resolve the key issues,” he said, “but now the same readiness is necessary by Moscow”. No concession, however: “I do not consider the declarations made by the Russian part – that is, that they are ready not to take over other lands of Ukraine – as concessions”.
Meanwhile, Washington is discussed – away from the spotlight – of the security guarantees to be offered to Kiev. It is not Trump to deal with it, but the American and Ukrainian teams are at work. According to Zelensky, there will be interviews on the weekend with a US delegation to develop a “basic plan” for the future defense structure of Ukraine. Yesterday Zelensky also received the US Special envoy Keith Kellogg, to whom he expressed “appreciation for the availability of the United States to be part of the security architecture for Ukrainian”. But everything is still on the high seas.
On the diplomatic front, Beijing continues to disassemble the voices that he would be willing to participate in an international peacekeeping force in Ukraine. For the Chinese government, these are “false rumors”. Instead, it relaunches Zelensky’s delegitimization. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, reiterated that “we recognize him as the de facto head of the regime. And in this guise, we are ready to meet him”. But he warns: “As regards the signature of legal documents”, therefore of a possible peace treaty, “a legitimate president will be needed”. An arrow that aims at the heart of the matter: for Moscow, Zelensky’s mandate has expired and his stay in power is justified only by the state of emergency caused by the conflict. A thesis that the Kremlin will repeat more and more as the time is approaching.
In short, talking about peace is still premature. Also because weapons continue to speak. Today Russian forces have conquered another village in the Dnepropetrovsk region. And the Ukrainian counter -offensive, after months of rhetoric and billions spent, still looks like a distant promise. In the meantime, the western world is divided between those who, like Trump, want to negotiate and who – in Brussels and Washington – prefers to keep their foot on the accelerator of sanctions and duties. The only certainty, for now, is that the conflict continues. And to pay the price, once again, is the Ukrainian people.
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