PARIS: France’s foreign minister on Monday cautioned against jumping to conclusions about future US policies under Donald Trump towards the war in Ukraine.
Jean-Noel Barrot’s warning comes amid some expectations that the incoming Trump administration could seek to broker a peace deal at the expense of Ukrainian interests.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that Trump had talked by phone on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling him not to inflame the conflict.
The Kremlin denied the report, saying it was “completely false information” on Monday.
Kremlin says reports that Trump and Putin have spoken are ‘pure fiction’
“Concerning speculation on what might be the positions or initiatives of a new American administration, I believe that we should not prejudge anything,” Barrot told the Paris Peace Forum, an annual gathering about international dialogue.
“We need to take the time to work with the administration,” he said, adding that France was ready to do so “with ambition, because we believe that we need to give Ukraine the means to push back” the Russian attack.
The international community, said Barrot, “has too much to lose if Russia gets away with a ‘might is right’ approach”.
In any future peace talks “nothing can be achieved on Ukraine without the Ukrainians”, he said.
Trump, who won an overwhelming victory in a presidential election this month, has in the past voiced admiration for Putin and scoffed at the $175 billion in US assistance committed for Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
The 78-year-old tycoon has repeatedly said that he could end the war in 24 hours, without explaining how.
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