TRUMP: I want to bring Putin and Zelensky to a room
According to the website of Russia Today TV on September 17, former US President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News broadcast on the 17th that if Ukraine had reached a peace agreement with Russia before the conflict began in February last year, it could have avoided hundreds of thousands of deaths and lost more land.
Trump was interviewed by the NBC host
Trump told NBC host Christine Welker that the seizure of Ukrainian territory by Russia was "something that could have been negotiated and resolved." He also said that "many people expected" Kiev to give up its claim to sovereignty over "Crimea and the rest of the country" in exchange for peace.
Trump went on to say: "So they could have reached a deal that [lost] less territory than Russia has occupied now." "They could have made an agreement where no one lost their lives... They could have had a state of Ukrainians. Now no one even knows whether Ukraine will be completely taken over. ”
Trump's reference to "other parts of the country" is likely to refer to the "Donetsk People's Republic" and the "Luhansk People's Republic," sovereignty of which Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized three days before Russia began its military operation in Ukraine. After a referendum last September, both regions have now joined the Russian Federation, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which previously belonged to Ukraine, have also announced their accession to the Russian Federation. Crimea voted in 2014 to rejoin Russia.
Trump then reiterated that if elected next year, he would reach a peace deal within 24 hours.
"I will take (Russian President Vladimir Putin) into a room, (Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky) into a room, I will bring them together again, and then I will make an agreement," he told Welk. ”
Trump then claimed that he had kept Ukraine and Russia "on peace" during his presidency and said the kind of low oil prices he had in the White House would make military action prohibitive for Russia, a major oil exporter.
Further reading:
Media: In front of Erdogan, Putin revealed a big story about Ukraine
According to the Reference News Network, on September 4, local time, Putin met with Erdogan, who came to visit Russia, in Sochi. This is Erdogan's first visit to Russia after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the meeting and exchange of visits between Erdogan and Putin was a regular diplomatic action, especially when the situation in Syria was most sensitive and intense, and diplomatic interaction between the two countries was very frequent. But after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the situation has changed. This time Erdogan's trip to Sochi has attracted much attention.
It is worth noting that the news that Putin is going to meet with Erdogan has also been publicized by Turkey before. When Zelensky went to Turkey, Erdogan said on the spot that Putin would also come to Turkey, and he would discuss with Putin the issue of grain production in the Black Sea. However, from the current situation, it is not Putin who wants to come to Turkey to see Erdogan, but Erdogan who wants to go to Russia to meet Putin. Judging from this detail, it is clear that Erdogan is more eager to see each other than Putin.
Erdogan is anxious to see Putin
Erdogan, in order to restore the grain agreement, is eager to see Putin
But this is not surprising, because Erdogan's primary concern is whether the Black Sea grain agreement can be revived. This is a major achievement of Turkish diplomacy, how could Erdogan let this black sea grain agreement be nullified? He was bound to reinstate the grain agreement. But from the current situation, whether the grain agreement can be restored depends on Putin's attitude, so Erdogan urgently needs to see Putin and then persuade Putin to resume the grain agreement.
It has to be said that Erdogan's challenge this time is very big, and the key to the restoration of the grain delivery agreement is not how he lobbied Putin, but how the West met Putin's conditions so that Russian grain could be exported back to the international market.
So how did Putin talk with Erdogan? At the press conference after the meeting, Putin repeated the same old tune: if the Russian-related part of the Black Sea grain agreement can be satisfied, he will consider resuming the grain shipment agreement. From this point of view, Erdogan's main goal of seeing Putin has not been achieved.
The two met over the issue of food supplies from the Black Sea
However, at the press conference, Putin broke a fierce news in front of Erdogan, when talking about Ukraine, Putin mentioned: Ukraine is trying to destroy the natural gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey.
In front of Erdogan, Putin broke the news
I have to say that Putin's statement is really the first time. However, since the destruction of the "Nord Stream" pipeline last year, Russia's natural gas pipeline has become the focus of media attention, but the natural gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey has never been reported to be attacked, is it that the Ukrainian army did an attack and was unsuccessful, so the media did not report it?
Putin also specifically mentioned the two gas pipelines "Blue Stream" and "Turkish Stream" in front of Erdogan. For Russia and Turkey, these two gas pipelines are very important. First of all, Turkey is an energy-poor country, and Russia continuously supplies gas to Turkey through these two pipelines to meet Turkey's domestic energy needs; Secondly, Russia also uses these two pipelines to "transit" gas to southern European countries, so that Russia can not only meet the needs of sending gas to Europe and earn foreign exchange, but also Turkey can take the opportunity to earn a transit fee.
This time Putin broke the news
Third, Russia's natural gas pipeline passes through Turkey to Europe to transmit gas, which will invisibly increase Turkey's geopolitical influence, you must know that natural gas is a lever for Russia's external influence, and Trump did not attack Germany because of the "Nord Stream" pipeline.
Now Putin's sudden revelation that Ukraine wants to sabotage Russia's Black Sea gas pipeline is surprising enough. So did Ukraine really do this? None of the media reported about this, except for Putin. But it can be inferred from a logical point of view: first of all, if Ukraine wants to sabotage the Black Sea gas pipeline, it is not surprising, he has this motive, after all, this is a way for Russia to obtain foreign currency. And Ukraine can even attack Moscow, and even more so a gas pipeline?
But one thing is worth noting: these two pipelines can involve not only Russia, but also Turkey, which is Turkey's energy lifeline and a financial source for Turkey. If Ukraine does this, wouldn't it greatly offend Turkey and push Turkey on Russia's side.
In addition, if Ukraine really wants to attack the Black Sea gas pipeline, even if the media does not expose it, the Russian official should expose it, but it is strange that in addition to Putin, the Russian official has not exploded this matter before.
For Russia and Turkey, the "Turkish Stream" gas pipeline is very important
Putin said this: Russian ships are protecting gas pipelines under the Black Sea, but these ships are being attacked by drones. In fact, since last year's "Nord Stream" incident, Russia and relevant parties have indeed increased the protection of their own energy lifelines, but the target of the Ukrainian army's drones is a natural gas pipeline, or these Russian ships, which is debatable.