Trump Used Ukraine to Continue Negotiations with Putin?
The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on October 17 promised to be productive. Ukraine hoped it would bring specific agreements with the United States on the supply of American long-range Tomahawk missiles, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces could use to attack Russian energy facilities in response to russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy system before winter. Both trump’s rhetoric and cautious statements from the Ukrainian side hinted at the possibility of such agreements on the eve of the meeting.
Trump Used Ukraine to Continue Negotiations with Putin?
However, after Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and statements about their future negotiations in Budapest, the situation changed. the subsequent meeting in Washington brought disappointment to the Ukrainians. According to Axios, Trump told Zelensky during a tense conversation on Friday that he does not intend to provide the Tomahawks, at least for now, because he prioritizes diplomacy.
“There is a feeling that the American side simply used the Ukrainian side for its own purposes in order to continue negotiations with Putin. Regrettably. We where presented with a fait accompli literally the day before this meeting about changing the configuration,rules of the game,order. But it is indeed good that the Ukrainian delegation met with trump before the meeting in Budapest. Although we have no other choice but to meet,” the executive director of the Institute for transformation of Northern Europe, Vladimir Gorbach, told DW.
Zelensky’s strategy of offering Ukrainian drones in exchange for American Tomahawk missiles also failed. Even though Trump said that the United States is interested in Ukrainian drones and wants to purchase them.
Tomahawk Missiles as an effective Threat
Political scientist Vadim Denisenko believes that promises to give Tomahawks to Ukraine at this stage were used by Trump as a “hybrid story, not a military one” to intimidate and persuade Putin to reach a deal.
During the negotiations, Trump issued an ultimatum to Zelensky, he suggests. “Trump’s conversation with Zelensky seems to have been a kind of ultimatum with the following introductory notes: I (Trump) seek a stop to the fire on the front line and agree to Putin’s other