(Dan Tri) – Bloomberg, citing knowledgeable sources, said that former President Donald Trump plans to pressure Ukraine to negotiate peace with Russia if he wins the rematch with President Joe Biden.
Soldiers of Ukraine’s 110th Mechanized Brigade (Photo: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine).
According to Bloomberg’s knowledgeable sources, Mr. Trump’s advisers are discussing ways to bring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to resume negotiations immediately after the inauguration in case he is elected.
One adviser said Washington could help push Kiev to cooperate with Moscow by threatening to cut military aid.
Mr. Trump’s advisers such as Larry Kudlow and Robert O’Brien have also publicly called for stronger sanctions against Russia’s central bank to convince the Kremlin.
Bloomberg’s source emphasized that Mr. Trump’s aides have not discussed this issue with representatives of Russia or Ukraine, because such behavior is illegal.
Moscow has repeatedly said it is ready to negotiate with Ukraine, but only after Mr. Zelensky canceled the decree banning negotiations with Russia’s current leadership.
Ukraine’s president ordered the ban last fall after Russia announced the annexation of four Ukrainian provinces, a move condemned by Kiev and Western countries.
2-level NATO alliance?
Also according to Bloomberg sources, another content in Mr. Trump’s potential foreign policy is the concept of a `2-level NATO alliance`.
Meanwhile, some other advisors proposed applying new taxes to member countries that delay in completing their financial obligations to NATO.
Sources emphasized that there has been no final decision on the above issues.
Former US President and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Conway, South Carolina on February 10 (Photo: AFP).
According to Bloomberg, Mr. Trump’s potential foreign policy could reverse decades of US policy and at the same time risk fracturing NATO.
In response to Bloomberg’s information, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on February 15: `Article 5 – which commits that an attack on one ally will be considered an attack on all – is the core of
`We should not pursue any path that suggests we are trying to separate Europe from North America. The strength lies in having Europe and North America together in NATO,` Mr. Stoltenberg said.
During his presidency, Mr. Trump has repeatedly called on NATO countries to increase military spending to 2% of GDP, a difficult threshold to achieve for many countries.
As of July 2023, only 11 NATO members have reached or exceeded this level.
The tense relationship between NATO and Mr. Trump became the focus again this week, after the former President said he threatened the leader of a European country that the US would let Russia do `whatever they want` if it
Bloomberg quoted knowledgeable sources as saying that the leader that Mr. Trump `threatened` was former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
President Joe Biden and allies in Europe condemned Mr. Trump’s warning.