Wrong to assume Trump to immediately call Putin – political expert

This was stated by the head of political and legal programs at the Ukrainian Center for Social Development, Ihor Reiterovych, who spoke in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform.

“You should not expect immediate and concrete steps from Trump immediately after his inauguration. As is known, Trump is prone to making loud statements, but their implementation in practice is a completely different matter. Most likely, he will devote the first days of his presidency to domestic affairs: appointing officials through Congress and Senate, signing off decrees, in particular those that cancelling the decisions of the Biden administration. This is mostly about U.S. domestic policy. Regarding external contacts, it shouldn’t be expected that Trump would immediately start calling Putin or making any quick decisions related to the Russo-Ukrainian war,” Reiterovych noted.

According to the expert, if Trump’s phone conversation with Putin does take place in the near future, it will likely be at the initiative of the Russian dictator, who may use the formal pretext of congratulating him on the inauguration.

 “However, this conversation is unlikely to be substantive because Trump currently has neither a clear vision nor a plan for ending the war. There are already predictions among those close to Trump that the new administration will need at least several months to develop a specific strategy. During this period, individual symbolic steps may be taken, but it is too early to expect large-scale decisions,” the political expert added.

In foreign policy, Trump will initially focus on contacts with European partners and Ukraine, and only later decide whether he should enter into a direct dialogue with Putin at all, the expert believes.

“At the same time, it can’t be ruled out that Moscow will try to establish indirect contacts through its representatives, in particular through Sergei Naryshkin, director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, whom media has already mentioned in the relevant context,” Reiterovych noted.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, referring to the outgoing U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the incoming administration has the necessary prerequisites to seal a good agreement for Ukraine on ending the war unleashed by Russia and establishing a lasting peace.