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Trump Calls for Cease-Fire in Ukraine  12/09 06:13

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump on Sunday pushed Russian leader Vladimir 
Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as 
part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being 
weeks from taking office.

   "Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness," 
Trump wrote on social media, referring to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr 
Zelenskyy.

   In a television interview that aired Sunday, Trump also said he would be 
open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of 
NATO. Those are two threats that have alarmed Ukraine, NATO allies and many in 
the U.S. national security community.

   Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if he were actively working to end the 
nearly 3-year-old Ukraine war, Trump said, "I am."

   He refused to say if he had spoken to Putin since winning election in 
November. "I don't want to say anything about that, because I don't want to do 
anything that could impede the negotiation," Trump said.

   Trump's call for an immediate ceasefire went beyond the public policy stands 
taken by the Biden administration and Ukraine and drew a cautious response from 
Zelenskyy. It also marks Trump wading unusually deeply into efforts before his 
Jan. 20 inauguration to resolve one of the major global crises facing the 
lame-duck Biden administration.

   Trump made his proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and 
Ukrainian leaders in Paris, where many world leaders gathered to celebrate the 
restoration of Notre Dame cathedral after a devastating fire. None of the 
advisers traveling with him appeared to have expertise on Ukraine.

   Kyiv would like to close a deal, Trump wrote on his social media platform 
Truth Social. "There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should 
begin."

   "I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is 
waiting!" Trump added. He was referring to mediation efforts by China that many 
in the West have seen as favoring Russia.

   Zelenskyy described his discussions Saturday with Trump, brought together by 
French President Emmanuel Macron, as "constructive" but has given no further 
details.

   Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine needs a "just and robust peace, that 
Russians will not destroy within a few years."

   "When we talk about an effective peace with Russia, we must talk first of 
all about effective peace guarantees. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone 
else. Russia brought war to our land," he said Sunday in a post on the Telegram 
messaging app.

   Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump's post by repeating 
Moscow's long-standing message that it is open to talks with Ukraine. Peskov 
referenced a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022 that declared the prospect 
of any talks "impossible" as long as Putin was Russia's leader.

   That decree came after Putin proclaimed four occupied regions of Ukraine to 
be part of Russia, in what Kyiv and the West said was a clear violation of 
Ukrainian sovereignty.

   Trump's former national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, 
warned there was no such thing as a quick fix to ending Russia's war with 
Ukraine.

   "What I'm worried about is this kind of flawed idea that Putin can be 
placated, right, that Putin will come to some kind of a deal," McMaster told 
"Fox News Sunday."

   "I think it's really important for President Trump to adhere to his instinct 
in this connection ... peace through strength," McMaster said, adding, "How 
about give them what they need to defend themselves, and then saying to Putin, 
'You're going to lose this war?"'

   While Trump has said before that he would like to see a quick ceasefire in 
Ukraine, his proposal Sunday was framed as a direct appeal to Russia. The quick 
responses from Ukraine and Russia demonstrated the seriousness with which they 
regarded the idea from the incoming American president.

   Both Trump and President Joe Biden pointed this weekend to Russia's 
disengagement in Syria, where the Russian military largely moved out of the way 
while Syrian rebels overthrew the country's Russian-allied president, as 
evidence of the extent to which the Ukraine war has sapped Russia's resources.

   Biden said at the White House on Sunday that resistance from Ukraine had 
"left Russia unable to protect its main ally in the Middle East."

   The Biden administration and other supporters of Ukraine have made a point 
of not being seen to press Ukraine for an immediate truce. Ukraine's allies 
fear a quick deal would be largely on the terms of its more powerful neighbor, 
potentially forcing damaging concessions on Ukraine and allowing Russia to 
resume the war again once it has built back up its military strength.

   Trump portrays himself as up to making fast deals to resolve conflicts in 
Ukraine and the Middle East that have frustrated many of the Biden 
administration's own mediation efforts.

   There is no prohibition on incoming officials or nominees meeting with 
foreign officials, and it is common and fine for them to do so -- unless those 
meetings are designed to subvert or otherwise affect current U.S. policy.

   The Logan Act bars private citizens from trying to intervene in "disputes or 
controversies" between the United States and foreign powers without government 
approval. But the 1799 statute has produced just two criminal cases, none since 
the 1850s and neither resulting in a criminal conviction.

   In the NBC interview taped Friday, Trump renewed his warning to NATO allies 
that he did not see continued U.S. participation in the Western military 
alliance as a given during his second term.

   Trump has long complained that European and the Canadian governments in the 
mutual-defense bloc are freeloading on military spending by the U.S., by far 
the most powerful partner in NATO. NATO and its member governments say a 
majority of countries in the bloc are now hitting voluntary targets for 
military spending, due in part to pressure from Trump in his first term.

   Asked whether he would consider the possibility of pulling out of NATO, 
Trump indicated that was an open question.

   "If they're paying their bills, and if I think they're treating us fairly, 
the answer is absolutely I'd stay with NATO," he said.

   But if not, he was asked if he would consider pulling the U.S. out of the 
alliance. Trump responded, "Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely."

   Trump expressed the same openness when asked if Ukraine should brace for 
possible cuts in U.S. aid. "Possibly," he said.

   U.S. arms and other military support are vital to Ukraine's efforts to fend 
off invading Russian forces, and Biden has been surging assistance to Ukraine 
before leaving office.

   Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday announced nearly $1 billion more 
in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine. Austin spoke to his Ukrainian 
counterpart Sunday about the status of the war and U.S. military backing, the 
Pentagon said.

   Russian forces kept up their grinding advance in eastern Ukraine, taking the 
village of Blahodatne, according to a statement Sunday by Russia's defense 
ministry. If confirmed, that gain would bring Russian forces a step closer 
toward capturing the town of Velyka Novosilka and disrupting a key logistics 
route for the Ukrainian army, military analysts said.

 
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