President-elect Trump announced on Nov. 13 that Tulsi Gabbard would take on the role of director of national intelligence, marking a notable shift for the former Democrat who has opposed U.S. support for Ukraine and had previously been accused of promoting Russian narratives.
NATO allies believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin is aiming to recapture territory lost to Ukraine in the Kursk region before Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, The Telegraph reported on Nov. 11.
A report had claimed Trump advised Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine.
During the call from Trump’s Florida resort, President-elect advised Putin not to escalate the situation in Ukraine and highlighted Washington’s significant military presence in Europe, one source familiar with the discussion said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential election during the Valdai forum in Sochi on Nov. 7.
Donald Trump also received informal and indirect congratulations from other top Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, and others.
Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6, after months of repeatedly claiming he could end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in a day. To do that, he will have to do what he claims he does best — negotiate a deal. Ambassador Kurt Volker is one person
Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who served in Trump's White House and is now at the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, suggested in an interview with the FT that Ukraine's membership in NATO could be taken off the agenda for several years to force Russia to the negotiating table.
"It (Ukraine) was the apple of his eye; he used to talk about it. But I said, 'You're not going in, and he wasn't going in," Donald Trump said on Oct. 14.
(Updated: )
