NEW YORK, December 12. /TASS/. US President-elect Donald Trump suggested that Europe deploy its troops to Ukraine to monitor a potential ceasefire, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials.
At a meeting in Paris on December 7, Trump told Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine and French President Emmanuel Macron that "he doesn’t support Ukrainian membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but that he wanted to see a strong, well-armed Ukraine," according to the report.
Trump said Europe should play the main role in defending and supporting Ukraine. The US could support the effort, although it wouldn’t send any of its troops, the newspaper said.
In addition, Trump expressed the idea that Europe should ask China to press Russia to end the conflict, according to the report. The sides discussed imposing tariffs on China as a "bargaining chip."
The Wall Street Journal reported that European officials said they believe the US president-elect hasn’t yet "formed a clear plan on what to do" about Ukraine.
Putin held a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry in June, where he listed the conditions for talks with Ukraine. They include the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Ukraine’s commitment to adopt a non-aligned status, denazification and demilitarization of the country, and the lifting of all Western sanctions. The president insisted that all these conditions should be enshrined in fundamental international agreements.
On December 8, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said Russia is open to negotiations on Ukraine. According to the spokesman, to start on a path to peace Vladimir Zelensky needs to cancel his decree that bans any communication with the Russian leadership and order talks to be resumed on the basis of the Istanbul agreements and the realities on the ground.