Trump misses his own deadline to end Ukraine war

(CNN) — President Donald Trump has missed his deadline for ending the war in Ukraine.

Of course, no one truly believed Trump would be able end the grinding, three-year conflict in 24 hours, as he implausibly promised repeatedly as a candidate. Even his new special envoy to Ukraine has asked for 100 days to find a solution.

Yet the missed deadline — and the scant mention of the conflict during Monday’s inauguration celebrations — nonetheless underscore how difficult the challenge of ending the fighting in Ukraine will be for the new president, who so far has made no public attempts at brokering peace.

Amid the laundry list of priorities Trump recited during his inaugural address, Ukraine did not warrant a mention. While Trump declared himself a “peacemaker,” he offered no specific pledges of continued American assistance to Kyiv.

For now, it appears Trump’s first order of business will be a talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who he accused of “destroying Russia” during remarks in the Oval Office on Monday.

“He can’t be thrilled, he’s not doing so well,” Trump told reporters amid a lengthy signing ceremony, a rare moment of criticism about the Russian president. “Russia is bigger, they have more soldiers to lose, but that’s no way to run a country.”

Asked how long the war would last, he said he couldn’t answer before speaking with the Russian leader.

“I have to speak to President Putin. We’re going to have to find out,” he said.

Indeed, Trump has directed his aides to arrange a phone call with Putin soon, with one goal of the conversation to discuss an in-person meeting in the coming months to try ending the war in Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. Now that Trump is in office, US and Russian officials can begin work in earnest on setting up an in-person meeting. Switzerland and Serbia have both said they’d be willing to host.

Any talks between the two men will reflect a sharp break from former President Joe Biden’s approach. He hadn’t spoken directly with Putin in almost three years, wary any conversation would be useful toward resolving the conflict.

Trump sees things differently. His view, described by a person familiar with his thinking, is that direct engagement with Putin is exactly what is needed to find a solution to end the war.

“How the hell are you going to find a way out the mess if you’re not talking?” the person said, describing Trump’s approach.

What exactly that solution looks like isn’t clear, though officials privately acknowledge it will almost certain require concessions on the part of the Ukrainians.

“The president said when he was campaigning, he wants the dying to stop,” new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday on NBC. “He wants the destruction to stop. I think that’s in everyone’s interest. Now, will that be easy? Will it be complicated? Of course, because every side is going to have to give something.”

Beyond that, it’s largely unknown how much Trump plans to continue the Biden administration’s strategy of providing arms and intelligence to Ukraine, and — beyond opposing Ukraine’s admission to NATO — he hasn’t said what security guarantees he’d be willing to agree to that would satisfy Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Nor has he specified who will pay for Ukraine’s rebuilding, although based on his past comments, it’s unlikely to be the United States.

Speaking on Tuesday, Zelensky seemed concerned about how focused Trump would be on the conflict and suggested European countries need to step up.

The Ukrainian leader suggested that while the United States is an “indispensable” ally to Europe, the relationship might not be fully reciprocal.

“Will President Trump even notice Europe?” Zelensky asked in appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Does he see NATO as necessary, and will he respect EU institutions?”

“Europe can’t afford to be second or third in line for its allies,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky added that Europe “needs to learn how to fully take care of itself,” so that “the world can’t afford to ignore it.”

The Ukrainian leader also urged European countries to stand together to face threats from Russia and Iran, noting the size of Russian army to other European states and suggesting that no European country can stand up to Russia by itself.

“This isn’t a situation where one country can secure itself alone. It’s about all of us standing together to mean something,” he said.

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed reporting.

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