Trump Advisers Acknowledge Ukraine War Will Take Months to Resolve

Washington: So, it turns out that Trump’s advisers are saying the Ukraine war is going to take a lot longer to sort out than he initially claimed. They’re looking at months, maybe even longer, to get things under control. This is a big shift from his earlier promise to have a peace deal ready on day one of his presidency.

Two of his associates mentioned that the whole idea of a quick resolution was more about campaign hype than reality. They’re realizing that the situation is way more complicated than they thought. Even Trump’s new envoy for Russia-Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said he hopes to have a solution in about 100 days, but that’s still pretty optimistic according to experts.

John Herbst, a former ambassador to Ukraine, pointed out that for any of this to work, Trump needs to convince Putin that there are consequences for dragging his feet. Before the election, Trump was super confident, saying he’d have a deal ready right away. But now, he’s been backtracking a bit, saying he could solve it quickly without giving a specific timeline.

He even mentioned that resolving the Ukraine situation might be tougher than the conflict in Gaza. Russia, on the other hand, has been sending mixed signals about peace talks, showing interest in talking but also dismissing some of Trump’s advisers’ ideas as unrealistic.

As for the peace plan, it seems like Trump’s team is leaning towards taking NATO membership for Ukraine off the table for now and freezing the current battle lines. They’re also considering giving Ukraine some security guarantees, like a demilitarized zone with European troops.

But things are still pretty shaky, and it’s clear that campaign promises can clash hard with the messy reality of international diplomacy. Trump’s envoy even had to postpone a visit to Kyiv that was supposed to help kickstart peace talks. It’s a tough situation, and Trump himself said he doesn’t want to meet with Putin until after his inauguration, even though he hates the idea of waiting while people are suffering. Meanwhile, his team is still figuring out who’s in charge of what in the new administration.