United States President Donald Trump hopes that separate phone calls on Monday with Russia and Ukraine will help make progress toward stopping the conflict in Ukraine.
President Trump expressed his hopes for a "productive day" Monday 바카라 and a ceasefire 바카라 in a social media post over the weekend. His efforts will also include calls to NATO leaders.
Trump is struggling to end the war that began with Russia's invasion in February 2022, and the talks are a serious test of his reputation as a dealmaker, as he claimed he would resolve the conflict quickly as soon as he returned to the White House, if not even before taking office.
Trump is banking on the idea that the force of his personality and personal history with Putin will be enough to break the deadlock in the fight.
"His sensibilities are that he바카라s got to get on the phone with President Putin, and that is going to clear up some of the logjam and get us to the place that we need to get to," said Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, as quoted by the Associated Press. 바카라I think it바카라s going to be a very successful call."
Still, there are fears that Trump's affinity for Putin could harm any deal the US government makes with Ukraine.
Bridget Brink said she resigned last month as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine "because the policy since the beginning of the administration was to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia."
Brink said the sign that she needed to depart was an Oval Office meeting in February where Trump and his team openly berated Zelenskyy for not being sufficiently deferential to them.
"I believe that peace at any price is not peace at all,바카라 Brink said. 바카라It's appeasement, and as we know from history, appeasement only leads to more war."
According to reports, Trump's frustration about the war was growing even before he posted on Truth Social on Saturday about an upcoming call, which he said would begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, with Putin.
Trump said his discussion with Putin would focus on stopping the 바카라bloodbath바카라 of the war. It also will cover trade, a sign that Trump might be seeking to use financial incentives to broker some kind of agreement after Russia's invasion led to severe sanctions by the United States and its allies that have steadily eroded Moscow's ability to grow.
Trump's hope, according to the post, is that 바카라a war that should have never happened will end."
(With AP Inputs)
