President Donald Trump has the right idea in trying to induce Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet one on one, but the Kremlin has no interest in doing that, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst told Newsmax on Wednesday.
Herbst, who was ambassador in Kyiv from 2003 to 2006 under then-President George W. Bush, told "Wake Up America," "We know that Zelenskyy has been trying to see Putin for many years … I think Trump's idea of putting it together makes perfect sense, but the Russians have no interest in doing it, just as they have no interest of making peace. Putin's aim is to take political control of Ukraine, and for that, he wants to continue military operations."
Herbst praised Trump's mobilization of American military and economic pressure on Russia for the past two months — up until his now passed Aug. 8 deadline for Moscow to stop firing on Ukraine — as the correct approach. However, he stressed that "offering concessions to the Kremlin is not going to get them to negotiate in good faith."
"Demonstrating to them that it is going to be painful if they continue their war of aggression is the best way to get peace in Ukraine," Herbst said.
He called the meetings in the White House on Monday "truly unprecedented," explaining the fact that "eight European leaders showed up at the White House 36 hours after they got invited demonstrates the power of the issue and the power of President Trump to convene."
Herbst said that the most important accomplishment during the meetings was "agreement among the parties to establish Article 5-like … security guarantees for Ukraine with, in some fashion, American participation. That is a huge deal, and that will be a necessary part of making sure that any peace arrangement lasts for a long time."
Herbst insisted that the U.S can provide credible security guarantees without boots on the ground, which Trump has ruled out, because the United States "can help back up our European allies and partners while they are in Ukraine by air and by sea. There are many things we can do to make this work."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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