US president-elect Donald Trump (L), French President Emmanuel Macron (C) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) at the Élysée Palace in Paris, 7 December 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE/SARAH MEYSSONNIER
US president-elect Donald Trump has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and the start of peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in a post on his social network, Truth Social, on Sunday.
“Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” Trump wrote just a day after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris before attending the reopening ceremony for the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, adding that Ukraine had “ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians” in the almost three-year-long war.
Linking the apparent overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria to what he described as Russia not being “interested in protecting him any longer”, as “all its attention is focused on Ukraine”, Trump described Russia as being “in a weakened state right now” due to both the war in Ukraine and “a bad economy”.
“They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever,” Trump wrote, adding: “Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.”
Once again stressing his personal relationship with Putin as the key to brokering a peace deal, Trump claimed to “know Vladimir well” and said that this was Putin’s “time to act”, adding that China would be able to take part in any potential peace talks as well.
On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a hastily convened meeting between Zelensky and Trump at the Élysée Palace in Paris. While Trump was reportedly reluctant to see Zelensky at first, he eventually agreed, with the 45-minute meeting described by one source as “good and fruitful”.
Writing later on X, Zelenksy said that the three leaders had discussed “a just peace” and thanked Trump, who he described as “resolute”, adding that they all wanted “this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way”.
