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President-elect Donald Trump Senate ally Mike Rounds said the US could be deceiving itself if it believes it can negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President-elect Donald Trump Senate ally Mike Rounds said any talk of peace in Ukraine will be interpreted as signs of “Western weakness” by Russia’s Putin. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE)
Senator Mike Rounds, a key ally of US President-elect Donald Trump at US Senate, said the US would be deceiving itself if it thinks it can negotiate a Ukraine peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said any such move will be perceived by Putin as signs of “Western weakness”.
“As much as I would like to believe we can negotiate with a tyrant, I suspect we may be deceiving ourselves,” the South Dakota senator told Politico.
“Do you believe that this tyrant, if you offer him a part of a free country, do you think he’s gonna stop? I wish I could say there’s an easy way out, there’s not,” he further added.
Rounds specified while speaking to the US-based news outlet that his position is not reflective of the stance of the incoming Trump administration.
Donald Trump has campaigned claiming he can restore peace between Russia and Ukraine, a war that is inching towards its third year and with Russia gaining an upper hand as Ukraine uses Western weapons to strike areas inside Russia, as both sides escalate the war.
Ukrainian forces are resisting a fresh offensive by Russian forces, and the world also fears the deployment of some 10,000-plus North Korean soldiers to the battlefield, who are waiting for the go-ahead in Kursk.
While Trump has promised to negotiate a peace deal with Russia shortly after taking office, Rounds’ statements align with the Senate Republican caucus’s strong support for Ukraine. This position stands at odds with factions in the MAGA movement advocating for a reduction in US military aid to Ukraine once Trump assumes the presidency in January.
Rounds spoke following remarks by Hanna Hopko, a Ukrainian civil society leader and former MP, who criticised the US for delays in approving weapons transfers and easing restrictions on their deployment.
Sharing her concerns, Rounds expressed his own frustration over the issue. “I just feel so frustrated that we have not been able to provide them all of the equipment that they need, and all of the weapons systems that they need, in order to respond to the absolute tyranny coming from Russia,” he said. “I wonder why we haven’t done more more quickly than we have”.
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
