Trump names main condition for easing sanctions against Russia

The president called it possible to ease anti-Russian sanctions only after a peace agreement is concluded to end the Ukrainian conflict. Trump also admitted that RUSSIA will have to make concessions as part of the settlement Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has given a negative answer to a question about easing sanctions against Russia as part of the settlement in Ukraine . According to him, this is possible after the conclusion of a peace agreement.

"No. <...> I want to see that we make a deal first. But I think we will weaken," he said at the country's first cabinet meeting, broadcast by C-SPAN.

Trump noted that a potential agreement would take into account the positions of both sides, but it would be difficult for Ukraine to make a “good deal” and “they can get as much as they can,” he said, answering a question about the territories. Speaking about whether the Russian side would have to make concessions as part of the settlement, he answered in the affirmative, adding that if he had not become president, the conflict in Ukraine would have continued for a long time, and President Vladimir Putin might “want to take the whole thing.”

Trump also said that the US would not give Ukraine excessive security guarantees, this issue would be entrusted to Europe. He supported the initiative of France and Great Britain , which expressed a desire to send peacekeepers to Ukraine.

US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner prays as US President Donald Trump holds his first cabinet meeting with Elon Musk in Washington (Photo: Brian Snyder/ REUTERS )Donald Trump holds his first cabinet meeting (Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters)Donald Trump (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)Elon Musk speaks at his first cabinet meeting (Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters)US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)US Secretary of HEALTH and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)Donald Trump, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In addition, the politician confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the United States on February 28 and the parties will sign an agreement on mineral resources.

On February 12, Trump and Putin had telephone conversations. They discussed the Ukrainian settlement and bilateral cooperation, but the topic of lifting sanctions, as Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov indicated , was not raised. During the conversation, they also discussed the possibility of a personal meeting.

Moscow considers the sanctions imposed against it illegal. Their lifting was among Russia's demands for the start of negotiations with Ukraine and a ceasefire, along with the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the territory of the new regions, their international recognition as Russian, as well as Crimea and Sevastopol, Kiev's refusal to join NATO and the non-nuclear status of Ukraine.

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