The economy of Russia is in a “very bad” state after nearly four years of large-scale war against Ukraine, assessed US President Donald Trump in an interview given to Politico before the scheduled meeting on Sunday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Their economy is in a bad state, very bad,” said the Republican leader from the White House, who is pressuring for the end of the war in Ukraine. While Volodymyr Zelensky is expected on Sunday at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida, the American president does not rule out a new telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin. “I think everything will go well with Putin,” as well as with Zelensky, he said. Donald Trump expressed his hope that the meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky will be productive. However, the American president warned the head of the Ukrainian state that he will have “nothing” until he gives his “approval”.
Volodymyr Zelensky had six telephone conversations before the scheduled meeting with Donald Trump. According to the Presidential Administration in Kiev, these discussions aimed at diplomatic coordination and informing international partners about progress in dialogue with the American side. The scheduling of this meeting was made public after the Ukrainian president announced on Wednesday the new version – modified – of the peace plan, which now contains 20 points. According to Zelensky, the Trump administration is willing to offer Ukraine security guarantees for only 15 years.
The Kremlin criticized the revised peace plan and is trying to sabotage it under the pretext that Ukraine is seeking the same thing in negotiations with the United States. However, at least at the level of public statements, the Moscow regime is trying to refrain from harsh criticism of the peace plan so as not to antagonize Donald Trump against it. Instead, as the Kremlin admitted, the Russian side is trying to influence things in its favor through backstage contacts. The last known conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin took place in mid-October, at the request of the Kremlin, a day before Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House. After this conversation, Trump no longer offered Ukraine the dreaded Tomahawk missiles and announced a meeting with Putin in Budapest, which ultimately did not take place.