As Kremlin doubles down on getting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “fired” from his role, US President Donald Trump is getting frustrated by Russia’s delay in implementing the so-called ceasefire deal in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Experts are now warning that the longer Moscow drags the peace talks on Ukraine, the more Russia risks losing Trump’s favour.
Even before returning to the White House, Trump was often seen claiming that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. After assuming the role of the country’s president, Trump faced the harsh reality of the complex conflict. Despite this, he pushed a 30-day ceasefire plan and put Zelenskyy under his first, forcing the Ukrainian leader to agree to the deal.
After an ugly public spat between the two leaders in the White House and the risk of losing Washington’s support, Ukraine did say yes to the proposal. Trump then kept on saying that the “ball is in Russia’s court” and Putin eventually laid out his conditions in a 90-minute phone call with Trump.
During the call, Putin and Trump agreed that Russia would not hit Ukraine’s “Energy infrastructure” (This was what was mentioned in the Russian press release. Trump on the other hand, claimed that Moscow wouldn’t hit Ukraine’s “energy and infrastructure”). Regardless of what was agreed, Ukraine claimed that Russia hit the country’s energy infrastructure shortly after the Trump-Putin call, a move which has the potential to upset Washington.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/is-moscow-risking-too-much-by-sticking-to-its-demand-to-replace-zelensky-13875938.html.
