UK still believes Trump can push Putin to peace talks
UK Defense Secretary John Healey (photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
US President Donald Trump has the potential to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to start peace negotiations on Ukraine, said UK Defense Secretary John Healey, as reported by Politico.
"President Trump is the figure that can bring Putin to the table, that can potentially deliver an end to the fighting," Healey said during a flight from Norway to Paris, where he was set to meet with France's new defense minister.
He also emphasized that Ukraine's partners in the Coalition of the Willing are continually updating their joint efforts to be prepared to help ensure peace when the right moment arrives.
Trump's peace initiatives
Since the beginning of his second term, US President Donald Trump has been actively trying to achieve an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. For this purpose, he has repeatedly been in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin — in particular, in August, they held an in-person meeting in Alaska.
However, Putin rejected Trump's proposals for a complete ceasefire and, after the talks, intensified missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, Trump admitted he was disappointed with Putin's behavior, stressing that their good relations no longer meant anything.
Despite this, in September, the US President expressed confidence that the war would inevitably come to an end and said that everything would be done properly, hinting at possible positive developments. According to him, relations between Putin and Zelenskyy remain extremely tense, but a decision to end the war will definitely be found.
On October 16, after a phone conversation, Trump and Putin agreed to hold an in-person meeting within two weeks — Budapest was mentioned as a potential summit location. The preparation of the talks was to be coordinated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
However, shortly afterward, Trump canceled the planned summit because Moscow did not abandon its maximalist demands regarding the conditions for ending the war. The American leader stated that he has no intention of wasting time.
Soon after that, on the night of October 23, the United States introduced new sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil. The US Treasury simultaneously called on the Kremlin to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
Trump later confirmed that he was ready for a new meeting with Putin, but only if a real agreement to end the war in Ukraine could be reached. The Kremlin, in turn, stated that Putin is open to dialogue, but a specific date for the talks has not yet been determined.
