One former U.S. diplomat seemed preoccupied with how a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine may serve President Trump’s ego.
During a segment on MSNBC this week, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul gave his thoughts on the potential ceasefire between the warring nations brokered by Trump, naming one of his main concerns as Trump getting credit if the two countries take steps to find peace.
“President Trump is going to say, ‘I ended the war.’ That’s going to be the headline,” he said, adding that is not how people should be viewing the story, should it happen.
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“And all of his people that support him are going to say, ‘Look, he ended the war that Biden couldn’t.’ That’s not the right way to think about this ceasefire,” the ex-Obama-era ambassador declared.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One over the weekend that he would be speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, expressing hope that the leader would be open to agreeing to a ceasefire deal and an eventual stop in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” Trump said. “Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.”
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Monday that Ukraine “expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire to the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” and that “The ball is now in Russia’s court.”
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Russia’s president has yet to signal he will accept a ceasefire deal so far, though he stated in a news conference last week that he agrees with the “idea” of the deal.
McFaul continued, suggesting that the only reason a ceasefire may happen is that Trump would be granting major concessions to Putin, despite the Russian leader being the aggressor in the conflict.
“The ceasefire is being brought about because President Trump and his team have compelled, they have coerced the Ukrainians to do so by cutting military assistance, cutting intelligence assistance, and they’ve given Vladimir Putin – so far – everything he’s wanted.”
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McFaul continued, “[Trump’s team] said, ‘No NATO for Ukraine. No – you can take the land.’ He just hinted at it, like you said, just amazing. He’s like giving away other countries’ land.”
The ex-diplomat acknowledged that everyone wants the war to end but noted that the way Trump is attempting to bring it about “encourages more war, more aggression, more concessions from Putin.”
When asked for comment, the White House directed Fox News Digital to an update on the call from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino. He posted on X that the conversation with President Vladimir Putin was in progress as of 10:54 AM ET, and “going well.”
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