Amid the peace talks climate with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump‘s White House has been sending out mixed messages that have sparked quite a few concerns among European diplomats, political experts, and Ukrainians. While the president believes that Putin’s intention is to create peace in Ukraine, recent statements from JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have many worried about how it would turn out.
Washington Post’s David Ignatius told MSNBC that the mixed messages have sparked concern among the Munich Security Conference attendees. Reporting from the venue, he said, “Everybody’s jostling, its like a huge dinner party where everybody’s trying to get a seat and that’s kind of a metaphor for me of what’s going on in these pre-negotiations.”
Ignatius claimed that, in particular, JD Vance and Pete Hegseth’s statements created an alarming concern that the “unpredictable” Trump will send military troops into Ukraine. On Thursday, during a press conference at his Oval Office, the president’s description of his phone call with Putin was “very warm.” Trump talked to his Russian counterpart for 90 minutes and later said that he believed in his peace intention. His statements led many to feel worried that the POTUS is planning to “sell out Ukraine.”
Ignatius also discussed JD Vance‘s recent threat. He noted that yesterday, the vice president commented that the United States might send troops into Ukraine and even impose tariffs on Russia. “The very thing that President Trump had said two days before wouldn’t happen,” the political pundit said.
In addition, Pete Hegseth also stated that Kyiv’s NATO membership as part of the peace negotiation is “unrealistic,” which added to the existing worries amid the confusing statements from various officials.
Zelensky calls on Trump to send U.S. troops to Ukraine and for American soldiers to be on the front line.
“It is great if we will have troops…they will not have a relaxed time…”
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) January 22, 2025
“Everybody’s trying to figure out what positions the U.S. is taking, how to respond to them, and the positions have been all over the map,” Ignatius told MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire. He ended his statement once again, mentioning that as every foreign policy or national security official from all around the world gathers for the three-day long Munich conference over the Ukraine-Russia war, there’s only one massive confusion- what exactly is Trump planning?
Meanwhile, following Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin‘s long phone call, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his dissatisfaction. He noted that it was “not so pleasnt” that the two of them discussed before Trump talked to him. On the other hand, European diplomats are also concerned about the negotiation. EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas stated, “We shouldn’t take anything off the table, before the negotiations even started,” noting that the ball will be in Russia’s court in that case. She added that if it turns out to be a “quick fix,” it will only become a “dirty deal”.
