Trump advisers believe Ukraine peace deal is months away By Reuters

By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump now believe the conflict in Ukraine will take months or longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his big foreign policy promise – making peace on his first day with White. The house.

Two of Trump’s allies, who have discussed the Ukraine war with the president-elect, told Reuters they were looking at months to resolve the conflict, describing Day One’s promises as a mix of campaign rhetoric and lack of recognition. . the impossibility of conflict and the time it takes to implement a new system.

These assessments echo the comments of Trump’s incoming Russia-Ukraine envoy, Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg (NYSE:), who said in an interview with Fox News last week that he would like to have a “resolution” to the war. within 100 days. , than the first term of the elected president.

Yet even Kellogg’s extended tenure was “way, way too optimistic,” said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who is now at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.

“For this to work, Trump has to convince (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that there is a problem with instability,” Herbst said.

On the verge of his victory in the Nov. 5, Trump has announced several times that he will have an agreement between Ukraine and Russia on his first day in office, if not before.

Towards the end of October, however, he made a subtle change in his rhetoric, and began to say that he could resolve the war “very quickly.”

Since the election, Trump has scaled back his rhetoric, often saying he would “resolve” the conflict, without giving a timeline. And the president-elect said ending the war in Ukraine would be more difficult than reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.

“I think, of course, the most difficult is going to be the Russia-Ukraine situation,” Trump said when asked about Gaza during a press conference in December. “I see that as more difficult.”

Russia has also sent different signals about a possible peace agreement, accepting direct talks with Trump, while dismissing other ideas presented by his advisers as unworkable.

The Kremlin declined to comment on Trump’s updated team schedule. Representatives of the incoming Trump administration and Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

‘NOTHING OF INTEREST’

Russia has made significant gains on the battlefield in recent months. Although those gains have come at a great cost in terms of men and goods, many analysts argue that Putin has an incentive to move slowly as he tries to control more territory in Ukraine.

Herbst was referring to comments made earlier this month by Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, who said the peace plans presented by Trump’s advisers “have no interest.”

Although the ideals of Trump’s peace plan continue to evolve, Trump’s advisers generally support taking the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine off the table, at least for the foreseeable future, and freeze the current battle lines.

Most of Trump’s top advisers also support providing Ukraine with material security guarantees, such as establishing a demilitarized zone protected by European forces.

So far, the Trump team’s attempts to end the war have progressed similarly, highlighting the extent to which campaign promises can meet the reality of complex diplomatic negotiations.

Kellogg, Trump’s ambassador to Ukraine, has postponed a planned visit to Kyiv ahead of the inauguration, seen as part of an effort to gather information to give officials a head start on the peace process, Reuters reported last week.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry cited US concerns about violating the Logan Act, which limits the ability of private citizens to communicate with foreign governments.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to meet (Putin) until after the 20th, which I hate because every day people are being killed – a lot of young people are being killed,” Trump said at the meeting. of the press last week.

Meanwhile, incoming Trump administration officials at the State Department, the National Security Council and other agencies are getting a sense of who has the power to control various political issues. one of Trump’s foreign policy advisers told Reuters.