- Elon Musk has a significant influence on Trump's team appointments, - CNN
- The Pentagon is concerned that Trump may use troops for law enforcement, - CNN
- It is unlikely that Putin will sit at the negotiating table, regardless of who wins the elections in the US, - CNN
This is reported by RBK-Ukraine citing CNN. This information comes from Kontrakty.UA.
While the details of the strategy are still being worked out, Trump officials are expected to advocate for a ceasefire at an early stage to temporarily freeze the conflict while both sides negotiate, sources say.
Trump administration officials are also expected to insist that European allies and NATO take on a greater share of the burden of supporting Ukraine financially.
"We need to bring this to a responsible conclusion," Walz told Fox over the weekend. "We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation rather than reacting to it."
Before winning the election, Trump repeatedly stated that the Russian-Ukrainian war would not have started had he been president. He claimed he could resolve the conflict in a day.
In his September presidential debates with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump refused to affirm his commitment to Ukraine's victory over Russia. Later that month, he suggested that Ukraine should "give a little" to Moscow, stating at a campaign event that "any deal, even the worst, would be better than what we have now."
The plans under consideration by Walz include a proposal from Kellogg, who was a national security advisor in Trump's first administration.
"I am very pleased to appoint General Keith Kellogg as Assistant to the President and Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia. Keith has had an outstanding military and business career, including serving in very important national security positions in my first administration. He has been with me from the beginning. Together we will ensure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH AND MAKE America and the world SAFE AGAIN!" – Trump wrote.
Plans
Kellogg's plan involves continuing US military assistance to Ukraine contingent on Kyiv's participation in peace negotiations with Russia and "a formal US policy aimed at achieving a ceasefire and peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine." Meanwhile, Ukraine's desire to join NATO will be "put on hold" for an extended period to encourage Russia to come to the negotiating table.
Walz also considered a separate proposal endorsed by Trump's former ambassador to Germany, Rick Grenell. Grenell had previously expressed support for creating "autonomous regions" within Ukraine, although he did not elaborate on what this would look like.
"Autonomous regions can mean many things to many people, but all these details need to be worked out," he told Bloomberg in July.
Another idea currently being proposed is to allow Russia to retain the territory it currently holds in exchange for Ukraine's NATO membership, although, according to sources, few in Trump's circle seem eager to invite Ukraine into NATO anytime soon. This sentiment is at least partially shared by the Biden administration, which has stated that Ukraine will join NATO, but only after the war is over.
Ukraine was among the issues that Walz discussed with Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan during a meeting last week.
A representative from Trump's transition team stated that the elected president intends to end the war.
"As President Trump stated during the campaign, he is the only person who can unite both sides to negotiate peace and work towards ending the war and stopping the killings," said Trump's communications director Steven Chung.
It is still unclear what the final strategy will look like
However, sources warn that it is "too early" to discuss how Trump's team's strategy for ending the war in Ukraine will ultimately take shape.
Trump himself continuously shifts his positions and messaging tactics, especially on foreign policy matters, which means that planning for Ukraine is likely to be unstable, noted a source familiar with the internal discussions of the transition.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated earlier this month that "on our part, we must do everything to ensure that this war ends next year, ended through diplomatic means." However, he also criticized the idea of implementing a ceasefire without security guarantees from the West.
"A ceasefire? We tried to do this in 2014, we tried to achieve this, and then we lost Crimea, and then we had a full-scale war in 2022," Zelensky said at a conference in Budapest earlier this month.
Zelensky, who met with Trump in New York in September, told reporters in Budapest that "I believe President Trump really wants a quick resolution" to end the war. "He [Trump] wants this war to be over. We all want to end this war, but to end it fairly. If it happens too quickly, it will be a loss for Ukraine."
"Murderer" Putin
Trump's allies appointed to top national security positions have already publicly indicated that the elected president is considering a range of options to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, including some that apparently contradict his previously expressed views on the conflict.
Sebastian Gorka, whom Trump recently appointed as one of Walz's chief deputies, recently referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "bandit" and stated that the new administration may increase US military assistance to Ukraine beyond the current level of support to try to end the war as soon as possible.
"I'll give you one piece of advice that the president mentioned: he will tell this murderer, the former KGB colonel, this bandit who runs the Russian Federation: you will start negotiations right now, or the assistance we have provided to Ukraine so far will seem like a trifle. That’s how he will make these gentlemen come to an agreement that will stop the bloodshed," Gorka said in a recent interview on Times Radio.
At the same time, according to a source familiar with the current discussions regarding ending the war, Trump's senior officials expect the elected president will want to take a similarly tough stance on Ukraine and may threaten to withhold assistance if they do not come to the negotiating table.
In recent weeks, the Biden administration has allowed Ukraine to use American long-range missiles to strike targets deep in Russia. For months, Zelensky publicly lobbied the US for the green light to use ATACMS missiles, but the US softened its stance only in mid-November.
The decision was made shortly after the administration lifted an effective ban on American contractors working in Ukraine to expedite the repair of modern systems such as F-16 fighters and Patriot missile defense systems.
As reported by RBK-Ukraine, neither Donald Trump nor members of his current team have directly reached out to Kyiv with specific proposals. Trump is currently more focused on domestic political issues, which have always taken priority for him.
In Kyiv, there are expectations that the issue will reach Ukraine seriously quite soon. According to sources from RBK-Ukraine, by January 20 Trump's team aims to arrive with a ready solution regarding Ukraine, so that, upon gaining real powers, they can implement it promptly.