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Trump Calls for Cease-Fire in Ukraine 12/09 06:13
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump on Sunday pushed Russian leader Vladimir
Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as
part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being
weeks from taking office.
"Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,"
Trump wrote on social media, referring to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr
Zelenskyy.
In a television interview that aired Sunday, Trump also said he would be
open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of
NATO. Those are two threats that have alarmed Ukraine, NATO allies and many in
the U.S. national security community.
Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if he were actively working to end the
nearly 3-year-old Ukraine war, Trump said, "I am."
He refused to say if he had spoken to Putin since winning election in
November. "I don't want to say anything about that, because I don't want to do
anything that could impede the negotiation," Trump said.
Trump's call for an immediate ceasefire went beyond the public policy stands
taken by the Biden administration and Ukraine and drew a cautious response from
Zelenskyy. It also marks Trump wading unusually deeply into efforts before his
Jan. 20 inauguration to resolve one of the major global crises facing the
lame-duck Biden administration.
Trump made his proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and
Ukrainian leaders in Paris, where many world leaders gathered to celebrate the
restoration of Notre Dame cathedral after a devastating fire. None of the
advisers traveling with him appeared to have expertise on Ukraine.
Kyiv would like to close a deal, Trump wrote on his social media platform
Truth Social. "There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should
begin."
"I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is
waiting!" Trump added. He was referring to mediation efforts by China that many
in the West have seen as favoring Russia.
Zelenskyy described his discussions Saturday with Trump, brought together by
French President Emmanuel Macron, as "constructive" but has given no further
details.
Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine needs a "just and robust peace, that
Russians will not destroy within a few years."
"When we talk about an effective peace with Russia, we must talk first of
all about effective peace guarantees. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone
else. Russia brought war to our land," he said Sunday in a post on the Telegram
messaging app.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump's post by repeating
Moscow's long-standing message that it is open to talks with Ukraine. Peskov
referenced a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022 that declared the prospect
of any talks "impossible" as long as Putin was Russia's leader.
That decree came after Putin proclaimed four occupied regions of Ukraine to
be part of Russia, in what Kyiv and the West said was a clear violation of
Ukrainian sovereignty.
Trump's former national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster,
warned there was no such thing as a quick fix to ending Russia's war with
Ukraine.
"What I'm worried about is this kind of flawed idea that Putin can be
placated, right, that Putin will come to some kind of a deal," McMaster told
"Fox News Sunday."
"I think it's really important for President Trump to adhere to his instinct
in this connection ... peace through strength," McMaster said, adding, "How
about give them what they need to defend themselves, and then saying to Putin,
'You're going to lose this war?"'
While Trump has said before that he would like to see a quick ceasefire in
Ukraine, his proposal Sunday was framed as a direct appeal to Russia. The quick
responses from Ukraine and Russia demonstrated the seriousness with which they
regarded the idea from the incoming American president.
Both Trump and President Joe Biden pointed this weekend to Russia's
disengagement in Syria, where the Russian military largely moved out of the way
while Syrian rebels overthrew the country's Russian-allied president, as
evidence of the extent to which the Ukraine war has sapped Russia's resources.
Biden said at the White House on Sunday that resistance from Ukraine had
"left Russia unable to protect its main ally in the Middle East."
The Biden administration and other supporters of Ukraine have made a point
of not being seen to press Ukraine for an immediate truce. Ukraine's allies
fear a quick deal would be largely on the terms of its more powerful neighbor,
potentially forcing damaging concessions on Ukraine and allowing Russia to
resume the war again once it has built back up its military strength.
Trump portrays himself as up to making fast deals to resolve conflicts in
Ukraine and the Middle East that have frustrated many of the Biden
administration's own mediation efforts.
There is no prohibition on incoming officials or nominees meeting with
foreign officials, and it is common and fine for them to do so -- unless those
meetings are designed to subvert or otherwise affect current U.S. policy.
The Logan Act bars private citizens from trying to intervene in "disputes or
controversies" between the United States and foreign powers without government
approval. But the 1799 statute has produced just two criminal cases, none since
the 1850s and neither resulting in a criminal conviction.
In the NBC interview taped Friday, Trump renewed his warning to NATO allies
that he did not see continued U.S. participation in the Western military
alliance as a given during his second term.
Trump has long complained that European and the Canadian governments in the
mutual-defense bloc are freeloading on military spending by the U.S., by far
the most powerful partner in NATO. NATO and its member governments say a
majority of countries in the bloc are now hitting voluntary targets for
military spending, due in part to pressure from Trump in his first term.
Asked whether he would consider the possibility of pulling out of NATO,
Trump indicated that was an open question.
"If they're paying their bills, and if I think they're treating us fairly,
the answer is absolutely I'd stay with NATO," he said.
But if not, he was asked if he would consider pulling the U.S. out of the
alliance. Trump responded, "Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely."
Trump expressed the same openness when asked if Ukraine should brace for
possible cuts in U.S. aid. "Possibly," he said.
U.S. arms and other military support are vital to Ukraine's efforts to fend
off invading Russian forces, and Biden has been surging assistance to Ukraine
before leaving office.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday announced nearly $1 billion more
in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine. Austin spoke to his Ukrainian
counterpart Sunday about the status of the war and U.S. military backing, the
Pentagon said.
Russian forces kept up their grinding advance in eastern Ukraine, taking the
village of Blahodatne, according to a statement Sunday by Russia's defense
ministry. If confirmed, that gain would bring Russian forces a step closer
toward capturing the town of Velyka Novosilka and disrupting a key logistics
route for the Ukrainian army, military analysts said.
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