Trump calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Ukraine, warns NATO

2024-12-08 18:51:21Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Trump calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Ukraine, warns NATO
Zelensky, Macron and Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump called on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. He also repeated his warning that he is open to pulling the United States out of NATO.

Trump made the comments about Ukraine a day after a meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying Kiev "would like to reach a deal" to end the war that has been going on for more than 1,000 days.

In a post on his Social Truth platform, Trump wrote that Moscow and Kiev have lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that "should never have started." "There must be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations begin. Too many lives are being lost needlessly, too many families are being destroyed," he said, as he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to end the fighting.

Trump's comments came after a meeting on Saturday with President Zelensky and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, which Zelensky later described as "constructive."

Speaking to reporters later on Saturday, Zelensky insisted that any peace deal "must be fair" for Ukrainians, "so that Russia and Putin or any other aggressors do not have the opportunity to return."

In a separate social media update on Sunday, Zelensky claimed that Kiev has lost 43,000 soldiers since Moscow's aggression began on February 24, 2022, while another 370,000 have been wounded. Both Russia and Ukraine have been reluctant to release official casualty figures, but Western officials have said that the recent months of fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine have brought record losses for both sides, with tens of thousands killed and wounded each month.

Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC television that aired on Sunday, Trump reiterated his warning to NATO allies that they should not take for granted the United States' permanent presence in the Western military alliance during his second term.

Asked in the recorded interview on Friday whether he would consider withdrawing from NATO, Trump said that was an open question.

"If they pay the bills and if I think they're treating us fairly, the answer is yes, absolutely I'll stay with NATO," he told "Meet the Press."

When asked if he would consider withdrawing from NATO if that doesn't happen, President-elect Trump replied: "Absolutely. Yes, absolutely."


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