Making concessions to Putin? ‘Tone changes’ among Ukrainian leaders

At first glance, it seems that it is bad news for Ukraine when Donald Trump returns to the White House. During his campaign, Trump threatened to withdraw aid to the country and has spoken positively about Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past.

But Ukrainian officials are not just monitoring how he came with fear. They seem to be even more open than before for talks to end the war.

opposite News hour Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Koeleba gives his opinion on the impact of Trump’s election and the course of the war. Despite Trump’s popularity, Koeleba recognizes the need for a new strategy. He suggests that Ukrainian President Zelensky must make concessions in exchange for strong security guarantees.

Trump says that once he becomes president, he will end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours.” It is not clear how he intends to achieve this. Koeleba, that one until September this year The Minister of State was in Ukraine, he does not have much confidence in that promise, but he sees it as a good sign that Trump “prioritises Ukraine”. “I think the main reason for Trump is to appear stronger than President Biden and to solve problems that the previous administration did not solve.”

Until recently, the option that Ukraine would have to give up land to end the war was not discussed. Last month, President Zelensky presented his ‘victory plan’ in the Ukrainian parliament with which he hoped to turn the tide on the battlefield. Russia is gaining more and more ground there and civilian casualties occur every day.

Eastern European expert Bob Deen has just returned from Ukraine, where he spoke, at the invitation of the current Foreign Minister, to other experts about possible routes to peace Deen says that Ukraine’s leaders have changed their way of thinking in a short period of time. “I have never experienced this before. I found Ukrainians who were willing to talk badly about what Russia needed to stop this war. Partly because of Trump’s victory, the very fast tone.”

According to Deen, the Ukrainian government is very hopeful that Trump will negotiate a deal with Putin. “This has to do with the unquestionable belief that Putin will break that agreement and that Trump will then take tough measures against Russia. I have my doubts about that last part.”

What an agreement would mean for the areas occupied by Russia in Ukraine is a difficult issue, Deen says. “But more and more reports show now that Ukrainians are saying: for us, security guarantees are more important than controlling or not controlling specific territory. I didn’t see that in any plan.”

Kuleba also admits that Zelensky may have to make concessions to stop the fighting. “You have to convince Putin that he accepts Ukraine as a democratic state and as a member of the EU and NATO. Zelensky must accept a price for that recognition. It is not for me to say what kind of concessions there should be. “

But the former minister warns not to lose sight of Putin’s goal with this war. “He doesn’t care about a border or neutral status for Ukraine. He wants to destroy the idea of ​​Ukraine as a state. The war will continue until Putin accepts that Ukraine has a right to exist as a state. “

Eastern European expert Deen says that Putin also wants to break the NATO alliance. “But there is also an understanding now that if there is no more dialogue between the West and Russia, Russia will still feel threatened. So Putin will continuously try to weaken not only Ukraine, but also the NATO alliance.”