The reason there has been such rapid progress on the diplomatic chessboard just three weeks into President Donald Trump's second term in office is because Trump himself is the driving force behind it, KT McFarland told Newsmax on Wednesday.
Trump earlier Wednesday said he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about starting negotiations "immediately" to end the war in Ukraine. He also has talked with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has focused on restoring peace to the Middle East and has worked to free Americans detained in Venezuela, Belarus and Russia.
"President Trump is driving all of this," McFarland, deputy national security adviser in Trump's first administration, told "Newsline." "This is not somebody, a staff person who's giving him talking points or a cabinet officer who's doing it. This is Donald Trump driving the deals, whether it's going to be deals in the Middle East, whether it's going to be dealing in Ukraine, whether it's ultimately going to be deals with China. All over the world, it's President Trump himself [who] is the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chief negotiator, et cetera.
"That's why you're seeing such rapid progress. The guy who is calling the shots is the guy making the decisions."
Russia on Tuesday released American teacher Marc Fogel, who was deemed wrongfully detained, and Belarus on Wednesday reportedly released three prisoners, including an American. At the end of January, Venezuela released six Americans held hostage. McFarland said these are more than just olive branches to the U.S.
"They want to get on Donald Trump's good side," McFarland said. "And in the same way, President Zelenskyy said that he talked to President Trump and talked about [how] the United States could lead efforts to develop rare Earth minerals. A lot of the resources that are in Ukraine. Ukraine is a very resource-rich country.
"So, really, the negotiations [on ending the war in Ukraine] already started, and as President Trump said … you don't want to get ahead of that negotiation. Let them negotiate it. But it looks like they're all ready to start talking. Everybody is starting to talk. President Trump keeps reiterating the idea of let's get this fighting done. Let's get people building again. Let's get the killing done. President Trump will push very fast to have a very speedy and rapid conclusion to this."
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