Trump needs to force Europe, Ukraine to agree on terms with Putin: Ex-diplomat Veena Sikri

New Delhi [India], August 17 (ANI): Former Diplomat Veena Sikri on Saturday said that further progress on ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict would require pressure from US President Donald Trump.
Speaking to ANI, Sikri noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Ukraine must not move towards NATO membership and that territories claimed by Russia will not be returned.
"It will need some pressure from President Trump to force these countries to agree because before this, we know that on both the major conditionalities that are there with President Putin, which is that to be no movement towards Ukraine joining NATO or any association with NATO, number one. And number two, that the territorial areas, the Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine that President Putin has captured and has already included constitutionally in Russia, that he would like to hold on to these areas, whether all four or whether one or two, that is not yet clear," she said.
Sikri added that now Trump would have to play the broker between Europe, Ukraine and Russia.
"President Trump himself had more or less given an indication that complete territorial return would perhaps not be possible. So now I think again it is for President Trump to do this diplomacy between the European and Zelenskyy on one hand and President Putin on the other, but he seemed confident and he seemed to say that the next meeting may be quite quickly, quite soon," she said.
Commenting on the recent meeting between Trump and Putin, she said that both leaders signalled that an understanding had been reached.
"I think it was a good meeting, going by what they said themselves. And I think they don't want to raise any anticipation about the outcome. But President Trump did say that this is 10/10, so it was a good meeting. He is enthusiastic about the meeting. And President Putin also said very significantly that an understanding has been reached. So in my view, of course, we were all expecting that maybe ceasefire will be announced," she said.
Sikri noted that Putin had stressed the need to address the core issues of the conflict to resolve it permanently.
"But I think that President Putin has laid down the conditions that there is no point in having a ceasefire if the root causes are not addressed. Otherwise, again, hostilities will break out. Whatever understanding they have arrived at on the conditions for a ceasefire, although even President Putin described it as a nascent, a new, not very well-developed understanding," she said.
She said that the issues raised in the meeting would be conveyed by Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders.
"This will now be discussed by President Trump with the European leaders and with President Zelenskyy. And already, even in the last few hours, I think President Trump has already had discussions with the European leaders and with President Zelenskyy. So they're going to get them to agree. When they agree, then it will be announced. And already when President Putin was speaking, he said that the European leaders should not destroy this understanding that has come about on how to find a solution. He also said that he is very sincere about the security of Ukraine and he wants a solution to end the hostilities with Ukraine," she said.
Sikri added that Trump will have to exert pressure on Ukraine and Europe to ensure the implementation of the understandings reached. "But he said that whatever understanding has been reached should be allowed to progress and be implemented, and not be destroyed by behind-the-scenes action by the European leaders and Zelenskyy. So obviously, it seems that there is an understanding between President Trump and President Putin. But now this will have to be discussed with the Europeans, and I think President Trump is already doing this, and in the next few days, we should have some indication about whether this will be acceptable. I think President Trump will have to put a lot of pressure on that," she said. (ANI)