WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Russia’s war with Ukraine and the president-elect renewed warnings that he was open to pulling the United States out of NATO.
Trump made his ceasefire proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming in a social media post that Kyiv “would like to make a deal” to end the more than 1,000-day war.
The Kremlin responded that it was open to negotiations, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that any deal would have to pave the way to a lasting peace. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Russia and Ukraine have each lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that “should never have started”.
“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed,” Trump said. He urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to bring an end to the fighting.
Trump’s remarks came after the meeting Saturday with Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron that Zelenskyy described as “constructive”.
In a post Sunday on the Telegram messaging app, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine needs a “just and robust peace, that Russians will not destroy within a few years.”
Separately, Trump in an NBC News interview that aired Sunday renewed his warning to NATO allies that he did not see continued US participation in the Western military alliance as a given during his second term in office.
Trump has long complained that European and the Canadian governments in the mutual-defence bloc are freeloading on military spending by the US, by far the most powerful partner in NATO. NATO and its member governments say a majority of countries in the bloc are now hitting voluntary targets for military spending, due in part to pressure from Trump in his first term.
Asked in the interview taped Friday whether he would consider the possibility of pulling out of NATO, Trump indicated that was an open question.
“If they’re paying their bills, and if I think they’re treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I’d stay with NATO,” he told “Meet the Press.” But if not, he was asked if he would consider pulling the US out of the alliance. Trump responded, “Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely”.
US announces another $1 bn in weapons support for Kyiv
The United States will provide nearly $1 billion in additional long-term weapons support to Ukraine as the Biden administration rushes to allocate the remaining congressionally approved aid ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming administration.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the $988 million package, which will include drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). Unlike immediate battlefield assistance, these systems will strengthen Ukraine’s long-term military capabilities through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
This latest package comes in addition to $725 million announced earlier this week, focusing on counter-drone systems and HIMARS munitions sourced directly from Pentagon stockpiles.