Trump won’t impose terms on Russia and Ukraine – envoy

The US president will try to bring both sides together to negotiate a settlement to the conflict, US ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has said

US President Donald Trump will not force any conditions on either Moscow or Kiev to resume peace negotiations, Washington’s ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has stated.

Appearing on Fox Business on Friday, the envoy said that the US president will, nevertheless, continue to push for a settlement in the Ukraine conflict.

”President Trump is going to continue to find the leverage and to find the conditions where he can bring both sides and mediate a resolution… [but] he’s not going to set the conditions,” Whitaker said.

“Both sides are going to have to agree to a peace deal,” he added.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump stated that, while possible, a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky would be hard to arrange because “they hate each other” intensely.

The US president also predicted that if the two met, he would “have to do all the talking.”

In an interview to TASS on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov described the US’ position on the Ukraine conflict under the Trump administration as one coming “from common sense.”

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He also accused European NATO nations of attempting to obstruct Washington’s peace efforts.

In stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Biden, Trump has actively engaged in dialogue with Russia ever since he assumed office in January. Last month, he held a summit with Putin in Alaska. The US president subsequently pledged to arrange negotiations between Putin and Zelensky.

Earlier this month, the Russian president said he was willing to sit down with Zelensky, suggesting Moscow as a potential venue.

Zelensky stated that he was also ready for such a meeting “without any kind of conditions,” however, he rejected the idea of holding talks in the Russian capital.

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, of which there have been three rounds to date, had been “paused” for now.