Former U.S. Ambassador James Gilmore told Newsmax Saturday that he would not counsel President Donald Trump to drop the idea of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine because it "really gives the Russians an advantage in any further meetings."
But that's not even the core problem, he added.
"The core problem is a report today in some news outlets that the president had agreed with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin that if he got all of the Donbas region — which means the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from their own land — then he would freeze the current borders that he's conquered, which is an outrageous thing, an outrageous thing to suggest that he gets to keep what he's already stolen," Gilmore told Newsmax's "Saturday Agenda."
"Get more, steal more. And then, by the way, even that's not a final agreement. According to Putin, that would all be conditional upon the Putin and Russia's core interests. And we know what that is. And that's the abject surrender of Ukraine, the West, and the United States.
"So ... I think there's no deal until there's a deal. And my advice to the president as a lawyer would be there's no contract until there's a contract. And that would not be something I would recommend that he agree to," he added.
Trump said he and Putin did not reach a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine after talks in Alaska on Friday, as the two leaders offered scant details on what was discussed but heaped praise on one another.
Putin said he and Trump had reached an "understanding" on Ukraine and warned Europe not to "torpedo the nascent progress." But Trump said, "There's no deal until there's a deal," adding that he planned to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders soon.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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