President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said he can and will end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours. Eastern European experts have largely dismissed such claims as campaign bluster, and impossible to achieve in such a limited timeline.
But in an interview with Ruslan Gurzhiy, editor in chief of Slavic Sac, noted writer and scholar Leon Weinstein said he expects Trump will resolve the conflict on his 1st day in office. Here are portions of his remarks, originally delivered in Russian, and transcribed by Ethnic Media Services.
Weinstein: I think Trump will have solved the problem of this war in his first 24 hours.
This means the first call is to (Vlodymyr) Zelensky, who was the first head of state to congratulate Trump, the very first, even before it was announced that he had won. So it’s: “Volodya, hello! How are you, dear? So, now we have said all the nice words to each other, let’s get down to business. There is a fax behind you, which you thought we didn’t know about. Right now there are two lists crawling out of it.”
“On one, it says a huge zero and an exclamation mark. And on the other, it names the weapon that we will give you if you say that you will act in accordance with what we need. You have 4 minutes and 17 seconds to decide. Do you want to continue in your way? Then I will stop all arms deliveries.”
“Or you will act in the way I will suggest? Then I will give you the weapon that you didn’t even dream of, because you didn’t even know about it. So, I hasten to assure you that all 20 people who are listening to Zelensky’s conversation start nodding their heads and showing him a big finger up.”
Putin
”Yes? Thank you,” says Trump. He then makes the second call, also to Volodya, (Vladimir Putin). “Hello Volodya, how are you dear? Well, now that we’ve finished all our kindnesses, here’s the fax that’s standing there behind you.”
“It is a list of weapons coming in to Ukraine. We sent it at the same time to you and Zelensky. It’s what am I going to send them if you don’t get out of the way.”
“And by getting out of the way, I mean continuing to shoot at peaceful people and, in general, continuing to shoot in the center of Europe, because I personally don’t like it when you shoot in Europe.”
“Look at this list, let your generals quickly wave their hands at you, you have 4 minutes to check it, and after they wave their hands, let them quickly explain to you what will happen to your army as soon as I send these weapons to Ukraine. Checked, checked. Well done.”
Cease Fire and Summit
Weinstein suggested Trump would then negotiate for a two-week summit with Putin and Zelensky present, and a cease-fire in the region. “And Trump says, ‘Guys, look, I understand the wonderful situation in Russia. Putin got into this war, and now he can’t leave without some kind of victory, right?’”
“I also understand the situation you have in Ukraine. You guys have a huge number of people who have laid down their heads. You cannot take and give away your land, because then it turns out that they gave up their lives for nothing.”
Weinstein said Russia had made a proposal to Ukraine before it invaded the country on Feb. 24, 2022. He alleged that Ukraine had agreed to the terms, but President Joe Biden was against the agreement.
The terms of the proposal include:
- Remake Ukraine from a unitary state into a federative state, in the same manner as the US.
- Ukraine would not join NATO
- Russia would leave all borders it has captured in Ukraine
“So, the Russians leave. You redo the Constitution, make it look like the American one. Four annexed regions, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, enter as federative subjects into the federative Ukraine. Everyone wins.”
“Putin eradicates fascism and leaves. No one else needs to be killed. Ukraine receives its independence. All Russians are expelled from its territory. It did not enter NATO, but it agreed not to enter NATO. And it will not place rockets aimed at Moscow on its territory. So, everything is good,” said Weinstein.
“The only question that remains is who and how will pay for the restoration of Ukraine and compensation to victims, and families of victims. I want to assure you: there will be such a number of hunters to invest in a country where you have millions of well-educated people,” he concluded.
