The Russian government places little value on media speculation about how US President-elect Donald Trump intends to end the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
The Republican leader claimed on the campaign trail that he could end the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours if reelected. On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal outlined his possible actions, citing foreign policy advisers close to Trump.
Considering the anonymity of the sources, “it appears to be a Wall Street Journal plan,” Peskov remarked when asked about the article.
The newspaper did name some of the people with whom it had discussed Trump’s possible approach, such as former US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who is reportedly being considered for the position of secretary of state in the future cabinet.
Trump won the American presidential election this week and is set to take office for a second term on January 20. Peskov said the US president-elect and Russian President Vladimir Putin are unlikely to meet in person anytime soon, considering any such high-level summit would require significant preparation. Trump, however, did express an intention to call the Russian leader before his inauguration, meaning contact is “not excluded,” Peskov added.
The Trump administration will seek to freeze the conflict along the existing front line and impose a pause of at least 20 years on Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, the WSJ claimed.
Moscow will not accept any outcome that freezes the Ukraine conflict instead of resolving the core causes of the hostilities, Russian officials have stressed. These include the pledge by NATO to eventually welcome Ukraine into its ranks, Kiev’s discriminatory policies against ethnic Russians, and the influence of radical nationalists in the country, as described by Moscow.