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What are the "fair terms" that Trump is offering Putin?

There are still a few days left until Donald Trump enters the White House, and it is still unknown if, when, and where he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, for which both sides express readiness.

The deals are made behind closed doors and nothing is known about the details. The newly elected American president has repeatedly hinted, both before and after the presidential election, at the possibility and desire to meet and talk with the head of the Kremlin.

Moscow welcomed this initiative. The Kremlin emphasizes that Putin has repeatedly stated that he is ready for contacts with foreign partners, including Donald Trump.

Such a dialogue does not require any preconditions, only political will and mutual desire, says the Russian president.

"We see that Mr. Trump is expressing a willingness to resolve issues through dialogue, and we welcome that," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, noting that there are no concrete indicators yet, but judging by mutual readiness, after Trump enters the Oval Office, as he said, some progress can be expected.

According to him, the main topic of conversation would be the regulation of the conflict in Ukraine. Trump said we should wait until January 20, when he officially takes office as president, after which we should learn more specifically about the possibility of a meeting, its location and date. This announcement sparked enormous interest in political circles and the public around the world.

Some predictions about the results of a possible meeting between the two presidents were made by the special representative for Ukraine and Russia in the Donald Trump administration, Keith Kellogg, whose statement was reported by some Moscow media outlets.

He told Fox News that Trump will not make concessions to Putin. He added that Trump wants to save Ukraine and its sovereignty. According to him, it will not be easy for the new American administration to achieve peace in Ukraine under favorable conditions for that country, considering that the situation on the front is not favorable for Kiev.

Recently, Ukraine has lost significant territory in the Donetsk region, and its forces are also being pushed back on the Kursk Front. Kellogg also says that Trump "has no intention of leaving anything to Putin."

As he explained, Trump wants to reach an agreement with Putin "on fair and honest terms." This formulation, however, can be interpreted differently.

Because what is fair to America may be unfair to Moscow and harm its interests, with which it cannot agree.

Most likely, both sides will have to seek some kind of compromise. It was announced that Kellogg would visit Kiev in early January, but for unknown reasons that visit did not take place. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga expressed hope that a US representative would visit Kyiv after Trump's inauguration, regional media reported.

Moscow does not leave much hope that there will be a fundamental change in Washington's attitude towards the war in Ukraine and in relations with Russia. Donald Trump's bombastic statements during the election campaign that he would end the war in Ukraine within twenty-four hours and some other claims that indicated a significant shift in US foreign policy were received with reservation in Moscow and interpreted as a propaganda maneuver in the function of the election campaign.

However, it is noticeable that Trump views the war in Ukraine and relations with Moscow slightly differently than his predecessor.

While Biden, with all his ferocity, accused Moscow of brutal aggression, and President Putin, inappropriately in diplomatic vocabulary, called him a "butcher", Trump is much more restrained and does not use such terms. He emphasized on several occasions during the election campaign that he has good relations with Putin and that he will negotiate and reach an agreement with him to achieve peace in Ukraine, reduce tensions in international relations, and prevent the outbreak of a nuclear war.

Many analysts believe that Trump's main problem in the coming period will be dealing with China. Kellogg confirms this in his statement. It is precisely with the Chinese problem that Kellogg connects Trump's frequent statements about the Panama Canal and the status of Greenland, which, according to Washington, is a matter of US national security.

So, there are a lot of unknowns. Some of them will likely be revealed in the first days after Trump enters the White House or at the latest in the first hundred days of his presidency, which is the period after which every head of state, according to American tradition, announces the results of his work. Then it will be clear what Trump's true position is regarding the war in Ukraine and other significant international issues, and which of his statements were only for the purpose of the election campaign.

 

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