Trump on Ukraine: Europe without a plan, Russia has the advantage

In an interview with Politico on Tuesday, 8th December, Trump discussed the war in Ukraine, the U.S. National Security Strategy and American policy toward Europe.

On the conflict in Ukraine, in the first part of the conversation with Dasha Burns, Trump said it was a big problem for Europe, which is not handling it very well. He added that Moscow currently holds a stronger negotiating position than Kyiv and suggested that „at some point, size will win, generally”.

Slim chance for war's end

Donald Trump delivered a critical assessment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who — in his view — „has gotta read the proposal. He hadn’t re … really, he hasn’t read it yet” and does not want to proceed with presidential elections, which — according to Trump — should take place despite the war.

Does the U.S. politician see any chance of ending the conflict soon? His remarks suggest the chances are slim. He said that since Putin and Zelenskiy hate each other, an agreement will be very difficult. According to information provided by Donald Trump, the animosity between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents was already visible in 2019, when, during the Normandy Format summit, Zelenskiy was said to have demanded that the Russian leader return Crimea to Ukraine and agree to Ukraine joining NATO.

NATO, the National Security Strategy and Venezuela

In the interview with Politico, the discussion included Europe, NATO and the recently published U.S. National Security Strategy. In addition to repeating several points Donald Trump has made publicly with considerable frequency (such as „NATO calls me Daddy. I mean, I have a lot to say about it. Look, I raised, you know, GDP from 2 percent to 5 percent; the 2 percent they weren’t paying and the 5 percent they are paying.” or „Europe is not doing a good job in many ways. (…) They talk too much. (…)), a few remarks appeared that could be considered somewhat new.  Example: Asked whether there are NATO countries that should not belong to the Alliance, the U.S. president replied: „there are countries that are difficult for NATO. Not that they shouldn’t be. I think it’s good to have them. Turkey’s an example”.

Asked whether NATO should stop expanding to include new members, Donald Trump replied that Well, you know, there aren’t that many left when you get right down to it, right? There aren’t that many left. He also added that even before Putin came to power, it was clear that Ukraine would not join NATO.

The interview concluded with the topic of Venezuela. Asked whether U.S. troops could be seen in Venezuela in the near future, President Trump replied: „I don’t comment on that.” He added, asked about Maduro, that „His days are numbered.”