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Yevhen Kostohryzov, an analyst at the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism,” weighed in during an interview with Radio NV on whether U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could immediately bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table after his inauguration.
“Would Trump want to symbolically highlight his actions right after assuming office by bringing Ukrainian and Russian representatives—not necessarily at the presidential level but just delegates—to the negotiating table?” Kostohryzov questioned. “Maybe he’d like to, but I don’t think he’d manage it that quickly. Even if he has the desire, I’ll be surprised if he successfully organizes a negotiation table that fast,” Kostohryzov said on Radio NV.
The analyst added that Trump might use a special envoy to align positions with both Ukraine and Russia.
On Nov. 13, ZN.UA reported, citing sources, that the leading candidate for the role of U.S. special envoy to Ukraine is American diplomat Brian Hook. Fox News previously reported that Trump might soon appoint an envoy to lead talks aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Trump’s stance on Ukraine
On Nov. 14, Trump stated that his administration would pay “special attention” to resolving the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“We will work tirelessly with Russia and Ukraine. This war must end. Russia and Ukraine need to stop the fighting,” Trump said.
That same day, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gennady Gatilov, claimed that Russia was open to “any peace negotiations” on Ukraine if initiated by Trump.
The Associated Press reported on Nov. 11 that Trump plans to get Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table within the first days of his return to the White House.
After Trump’s election victory, his spokesperson announced that he could now negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Later, she said: “On day one, this includes getting Ukraine and Russia to the table to end this war.”
According to reports, Trump and Putin had a phone call where the U.S. president-elect advised the Russian leader to avoid escalating the war in Ukraine and reminded him of Washington’s strong military presence in Europe.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Kyiv had not been informed about the Trump-Putin phone conversation.
On Nov. 11, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed there had been no phone call between Trump and Putin, adding that there were supposedly no concrete plans for their communication.
On Nov. 6, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s advisers had floated several plans for effectively freezing the front line in Ukraine. One version suggested Ukraine refrain from joining NATO for 20 years.
According to the report, this plan includes freezing the front line and establishing an 800-mile demilitarized zone (nearly 1,300 kilometers), leaving Russia with around 20% of Ukrainian territory currently occupied by the aggressor state.
On Nov. 7, the Office of the President of Ukraine expressed skepticism about the authenticity of the plan.
“Generally speaking, real plans of presidents are rarely announced in newspapers. And Russian disinformation is always abundant in newspapers,” said presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn.
The Economist reported that Ukrainian officials are considering two publicly discussed versions of Trump’s “peace plan.”
The first, linked to Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance, involves freezing the conflict along current lines and pushing Ukraine into neutrality, without clear security guarantees or restrictions on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The second, which Ukraine allegedly prefers, was laid out by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in The Wall Street Journal and calls for increased support for Ukraine to deter Russia, while keeping NATO membership on the table. On Nov. 10, Trump announced he would not include Pompeo in his administration.
The Telegraph has suggested that Trump’s plan may involve deploying European and British forces in a 1,200-kilometer buffer zone between the Russian and Ukrainian armies.
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