Donald Trump has repeatedly said he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in just one day if he is elected president again. However, Russia’s United Nations ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, disagrees. He told reporters that solving the Ukrainian crisis in one day is impossible.
At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said he wanted to stop the deaths of Russians and Ukrainians and that he would achieve peace within 24 hours. He plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to make this happen. Trump has continued to make this claim during his campaign.
In a recent debate with President Joe Biden, Trump claimed that if the U.S. had a president respected by Putin, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine. Nebenzia said the war could have ended in April 2022 in Istanbul when Russia and Ukraine were close to an agreement. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, though it refers to its actions as a “special military operation” that started in 2014 when it seized Crimea.
Nebenzia blamed Ukraine’s Western supporters for blocking the April 2022 peace deal and encouraging Kyiv to continue fighting. He criticized Zelenskyy’s peace plan, calling it a joke. Last month, nearly 80 countries meeting in Switzerland supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity as the basis for any peace agreement, but some key nations did not join, and Russia did not attend.
Nebenzia mentioned Putin’s offer on June 14 to order a cease-fire and start negotiations if Ukraine withdraws troops from the four regions annexed by Russia in 2022 and gives up plans to join NATO. Zelenskyy rejected this offer, calling it an ultimatum to surrender more land.
The Trump campaign did not respond to an email seeking comment on Nebenzia’s remarks. After Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces stopped their advance towards the capital. The fighting has mainly been in southern and eastern Ukraine, where Russia seized four regions but does not fully control them.
Ukraine is struggling to stabilize parts of its front line after delays in receiving military aid from the United States, which was finally approved in April. Russia used this delay to launch an offensive and make gains.
Nebenzia called Zelenskyy’s peace plan unrealistic and said he needed to consider what had happened since April. He warned that the more difficult the situation becomes for Ukraine, the harder it will be to achieve a diplomatic solution to end the war.
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