“Putin wants to restore the Russian Empire, destroy Ukraine, and will not change a position,” according to Kurt Volker, special representative of the US State Department for Ukraine from 2017 to 2019
In an interview with Ukrainian online media Glavkom,, Kurt Volker, Special Representative of the US State Department for Ukraine from 2017 to 2019, during Donald Trump's first term, evokes the evolution of the latter, who promised to ensure peace in Ukraine twenty-four hours before declaring that he might be “Preferable to let Ukraine and Russia fight”.
For the diplomat, Donald Trump “Make it as if Ukraine and Russia were morally equivalent, instead of recognizing that one is the aggressor and that the other defends himself”. He adds: “I think Trump is disappointed that Putin does not want to end this war. He thought it would be very easy and natural, but it is not the case. I think it surprises Trump, but he always tries to convince Putin to accept a cease-fire instead of resorting to coercion. I think it has the feeling that the only way to put an end to war is that Putin agrees to stop him and stop fighting for a long time. »»
He continues: “Consequently, Trump does not want to increase the pressure on Putin. He does not want new sanctions, he does not want to criticize him, he does not want to call him at the moment. This leads to a very unbalanced assessment of this war. Trump has a strong pressure on Ukraine and feeds great expectations towards him, because he considers it as the weakest part, when he has no expectations on the part of Russia. And it's very disappointing. I think it will continue. Trump will not change anything he does now. He is determined to continue this momentum. »»
Asked about the “spider web” operation, about which Donald Trump said: “The Ukrainians gave Putin a reason to intervene and bomb”the diplomat deplores the President's remarks: “It's terrible. Such a statement by the American president ignores the fact that Russia bombes Ukraine every day: nearly 500 drones on kyiv and Kharkiv. And it's not new. »»
For him, the words of Donald Trump [sur l’opération Spiderweb] “Distorm the situation in Ukraine. Putin does not need reason to bomb Ukraine. He does it systematically, because it is his choice. Putin wants to bomb Ukraine, restore the Russian Empire, destroy Ukraine, its national identity. And Putin will not change a position, he is very clear and consistent on this subject. For his part, Trump refuses to recognize the actions of Putin, and that is the whole problem ”.
To know which camp to support Donald Trump, the diplomat declares: ” I think that Trump is on the side of the United States. He does not consider this war to be in the interest of the United States. He thinks that it is a terrible war that harms Ukraine, Russia and trade. So he wants to end it. And the conditions of this end do not interest him. »»
According to Mr. Volker: “We will end up reaching a ceasefire and a deterrence. Ukraine will benefit from security guarantees, will rebuild its economy, will benefit from the support of Europe and will progress on the way to EU membership (…). But, in my opinion, we will never have a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Of course, Ukraine must not recognize any Russian occupation of its territory. I plan a very long -term confrontation, not resolved by military route, but which will never recognize the legitimacy of the Russian occupation. »»
Source: Lemonde