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Media: Unclear how Trump will handle Russia-Ukraine war

14 January 2025 12:42 (UTC +04:00)

Ukraine’s European allies have become cautiously optimistic that US President-elect Donald Trump won’t force Kyiv into premature negotiations with Russia, a Bloomberg article read, APA reports.

The recognition follows a series of private talks with members of Trump’s team, in which the transatlantic partners have made the case for continued support for Ukraine, according to European officials familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because the talks were behind closed doors.

The exchanges raise the prospect that the incoming administration may help war-battered Ukraine return to a position of strength before any talks take place, they said.

But those who held the private talks caution that they don’t know what the incoming president, who has a track record for rejecting advice or shifting gears at the last minute, will do.

A week before being sworn in as the 47th president, it’s still unclear how Trump will handle Russia’s war as it approaches the three-year mark. With planners on Trump’s team floating several ideas, there is no blueprint for Ukraine that can be enacted after the Jan. 20 inauguration, European and Ukrainian officials said.

But the conversations have raised a sense of wary relief in European capitals, where officials had gamed out worst-case scenarios if Trump were to follow through on his pledge to end the war swiftly — and potentially deliver a deal that would sideline Kyiv and bolster Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she doesn’t foresee disengagement from Ukraine — and underscored the logic of strengthening Kyiv’s hand.

“The only way to force Russia to sit down for talks is to build a difficult situation for them,” Meloni said last week after her meeting with Trump and his allies. “Trump has the ability to use both diplomacy and deterrence,” she added, “and I expect this will happen this time, too.”

Trump's nominee for special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News last week he’d like a solution to be found in the first 100 days of the administration.