As Trump's rise casts uncertainty on support to Ukraine, Zelenskyy hints at negotiations with Russia

As the prospects of Donald Trump’s second presidential term cast uncertainty over the support to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hinted at negotiating with Russia for the end of the war.

Trump and his far-right Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement have been critical of the military and financial assistance to Ukraine. Along with an isolationist foreign policy, he has hinted that he could curtail the US aid to Ukraine and push the country into making a deal with Russia.

Now, the CNN has reported that, a day after Trump and Zelenskyy had their first conversation since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Zelenskyy has hinted at being open to talks with Russia. At the moment, no talks between the warring sides are on and both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have laid down maximalist positions to end the war.

For a long time, Trump maintained that if he wins the US presidential election to be held in November, he would strike a deal to end the war even before he would assume office in January 2025.

‘Not everything depends on us’

In a recent interaction with the media, Zelenskyy said that the outcome of the war did not depend entirely on Ukraine as the country remains dependent on support from Western partners.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine was not getting enough supplies to win the war.

“Not everything depends on us. We know what would be a just end to the war, but it doesn’t depend only on us. It depends not only on our people and our desire, but also on finance, on weapons, on political support, on unity in the EU, in NATO, in the world,” said Zelenskyy, as per CNN.

John Herbst, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, told CNN that it was plausible that Zelensky’s shift in tone was a reaction to developments in the United States where Trump appears more likely than ever to win — particularly as the Biden campaign is now in tatters as his own party has rallied to oust him as their presidential nominee and he is failing to inspire confidence in his mental and physical faculties to see through another term.

Herbst further said that it was possible that Zelenskyy with his comments was trying to reach out to Trump’s camp by stressing he would be willing to negotiate as long as the deal on the table is just.

What have Zelenskyy & Putin said regarding negotiations?

So far, both Zelenskyy and Putin have laid down maximalist positions to start negotiations.

Putin has said that the surrender of four Ukrainian regions that Russia has illegally annexed has to be the pre-condition to start talks. The four regions of Ukraine —Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia— are not complete in Russian control and large parts remain in Ukrainian control. This means that Putin is asking Ukraine to surrender territories that Russia does not even control.

Putin has also said that Ukraine should permanently rule out joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

On his part, Zelenskyy has laid down a 10-point peace plan in which the Russian withdrawal and restoration of territories occupied and annexed is a must.