There is no way the war in Ukraine will end unless direct talks are held with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will ultimately will have to sit with both President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to come to an agreement, retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. John Teichert told Newsmax, Sunday.
"The last 3 1/2 years have demonstrated that, one, you need to force Putin to the negotiating table through positions of strength," Teichert said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
Friday's summit between Putin and Trump was a "good first step," he added, but it is not known how successful it was "until we hold Putin accountable to end the war, not by dragging it on, but by enforcing some deadline, like the end of August, to make sure that Putin doesn't continue to negotiate in bad faith and that the president negotiates in a position of strength to force an end to this war."
Trump, Zelenskyy, and Putin must consider geography, security, and the economy as major factors in an agreement, said Teichert.
"The United States needs to insist that the other terms of the agreement are favorable to Ukraine and that we find a way to provide ironclad security guarantees that Russia will not continue to try to do something like this again," he continued. "We, as the United States, must not formally recognize any land taken by Russia."
However, Teichert said he does not think there have been good-faith negotiations on Putin's part.
"This is why you need those security guarantees and why we need to continue to negotiate from a position of strength by holding Putin, not Zelenskyy, accountable for ending this war and making sure that Putin just doesn't drag on negotiations," he said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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