Trump's attempts to force Russia, Ukraine to negotiate by means of ultimatum not to yield results – Klympush-Tsintsadze
U.S. President Donald Trump's attempts to force Russia and Ukraine to negotiate through an ultimatum will not yield results, MP from the European Solidarity faction Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze believes.
"I do not think that his [Trump's] attempts to stimulate Russia and Ukraine to negotiate through an ultimatum, forcing them to negotiate, will yield results. In fact, in my opinion, with such statements, the United States is losing a certain part of its leverage over Russia. It would be much more effective to switch to using direct pressure tools: for the Europeans – to seize frozen Russian assets, and for the Americans – to apply additional tough sanctions, including secondary ones. Obviously, to significantly increase military assistance to Ukraine," Klympush-Tsintsadze told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
Commenting on the U.S. threats to withdraw from the negotiations, the MP said: "We understand how much the administration there would like to end the public engagement with this war. They don't even make a secret of it." According to Klympush-Tsintsadze, the question now is how effective the interaction between Trump and his European counterparts will be – to prevent him from slamming the door on them.
The committee's head also said Russia, with its statements about its alleged readiness for negotiations, is covering up its desire to obtain Ukraine's surrender. "Russia is twisting like a snake, trying to convince the world that it is supposedly ready for something that would really be called negotiations. In fact, it is covering up its desire to obtain Ukraine's surrender with its statements," Klympush-Tsintsadze said.
According to the MP, it is good that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared his readiness to go to Istanbul for a direct conversation with Putin. "I think that Putin will not take advantage of this opportunity, but will look for excuses why he is not ready to talk to Zelenskyy. But the most important thing of all is how clearly Russia's lies and constant evasion will be assessed by the U.S. administration, how much the United States will be ready to take sharp and proactive actions to put pressure on Russia together with its European colleagues. I am convinced that the Europeans are more willing to act. Now is a critical moment to ensure the unity of the West in countering the aggressor," Klympush-Tsintsadze said.