At one of his presidential campaign rallies in June last year, Donal J Trump declared that if voted to the power again, he would
end the ongoing Ukraine war in no time. Now that he is back in the White House, will he keep his promise? Some of his critics are being pessimistic in the matter. They complain Trump had vowed to end the Ukraine war even before taking office. But the fighting still rages across the front lines between the two nations and the Russian forces are waging a grinding offensive in Ukraine’s east. One, however, finds there is little reason for any such despair .
Knowledgeable sources say that defusing the Ukraine crisis needs President Trump to negotiate with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. Both Putin and Zelensky represent the legitimate entities. Trump can negotiate with them only now when he is in his new office. He has staged a historic comeback to the White House this time. His presidency is sure to attempt hard to resolve this crisis and establish his credentials as a man of peace .
In harmony with his famous transactional approach to grapple with any challenges, he may get Presidents Putin and Zelensky to strike a deal to end the war at the earliest . The atmosphere to facilitate the process leading to such a resolution of this crisis is conducive for President Trump . Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is said to be appreciative about the signals emanating from Trump in the matter. Trump’s relations with President Putin have already been cordial. At the Helsinki summit in 2018, then US President Trump expressed admiration for Putin . He debunked his intelligence officials’ assertion that Russia, under Putin, had interfered in the 2016 US presidential election. This assessment had once generated a lot of political heat in the United States.
One of the fundamental reasons for the Russia’s war against Ukraine has been the latter’s NATO membership ambition . On this, both Trump and Putin appear to be on the almost same page. Trump is not at all inclined to fuel Ukraine’s NATO ambition. His special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg is said to have already proposed a peace plan that might suit Moscow today. The plan calls for freezing the battlefield along the lines of the current fighting.
On his part, President Zelensky too seems to be accommodative to the US plan today. Head of Zelensky’s office Andriy Yermak has recently confirmed his President is “ looking positively towards the Trump administration to end the war.” Yermak has also confirmed that he has been in touch with President Trump’s nominee for the Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio in this regard.
The sources counsel Washington today may coordinate with New Delhi to find a solution to the Ukrainian crisis. President Trump enjoys a special bond with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi . Trump’s nominee Secretary of State Rubio enjoys a special bond with Modi’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Washington today could make the best use of New Delhi in defusing the Ukrainian crisis.
Pertinently, New Delhi today is well placed to bring Ukraine and Russia closer to each other . The reasons for this are not far to seek. India has had a reputation of a really neutral state in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. In the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, New Delhi has had a reasonably balanced approach towards both Moscow and Kyiv. It expressed its concern over the humanitarian cost of the Russian invasion. It sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine. At the same time, New Delhi did not condemn Russia’s invasion. New Delhi has consistently abstained from every resolution at the UN, Security Council, the IAEA, the Human Rights Council and other multilateral fora that have sought to criticize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. India has also increased its oil purchases from Russia.
From the very day the Ukrainian crisis erupted, India has been emphasising to engage “with all stakeholders and understanding different perspectives, approaches, and options to find a way forward for a sustainable resolution of the conflict.” India has expressed its faith in a human-centric approach and proposed that “the way to peace is through dialogue and diplomacy.” Because of India’s non-partisan approach to the Russo-Ukrainian crisis, both Moscow and Kyiv are likely to heed New Delhi’s counsels on defusing their crisis . Reports are that Kyiv is already looking forward to India playing a global role in ending the Ukraine war.
