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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's team is discussing how to end the Russia-Ukraine war permanently rather than merely "pausing" it, Trump's pick for national security advisor, Mike Waltz, told CBS News on Dec. 15.
Trump, taking on Jan. 20, 2025, said he aims to bring a swift end to the war without revealing specifics of how to achieve the goal. Some ideas floated within the president-elect's team reportedly include delaying Ukraine's entry into NATO in exchange for arms while freezing the war along the current front lines.
When asked whether the upcoming Trump administration plans to restrict how Ukraine can use U.S. arms, Waltz said that a "blank check... just isn't a strategy," adding that such steps threaten to turn the conflict into a "forever war."
Trump recently criticized the outgoing Biden administration's decision to permit Ukraine to strike targets within Russian territory with ATACMS missiles. At the same time, the president-elect indicated he does not plan to "abandon" Ukraine and instead leverage the U.S. assistance for Kyiv to push Russia to the negotiating table.
"What does success look like in line with our interests? How do we end the war? Who's at the table? How do we drive, you know, all sides to the table, and what's the framework for an agreement? Those are things that we're thinking through with his fantastic team that he's (Trump) assembling," Waltz said.
Waltz added that since Trump's reelection, his team has been in contact with European partners and Ukraine on how to end this war "in a way that restores stability, stops the carnage, and hopefully makes this a permanent end, not just a pause."
Dmytro Basmat
Trump met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Dec. 7 to discuss the ongoing war. Reuters reported that while the three did not discuss specifics of any concrete peace plan, Trump called for an immediate ceasefire, while Zelensky stressed the necessity of security guarantees.
Trump also reportedly called on Europe to take up greater responsibility for ensuring security once a ceasefire is reached.
When asked about Trump's meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 9, Waltz noted that Hungary's leader "has regular engagement with the Russians" and "a good relationship with President Trump."
Trump's team will take a "hard look" at Orban's proposal for a Christmas truce as a "first step" to "stop the fighting," Waltz added.
Budapest claimed that Kyiv rejected a proposal for a Christmas truce and a prisoner exchange with Russia, while a Ukrainian official said that Hungary never discussed the idea with Ukraine.
Orban has maintained warm ties with Russia throughout the full-scale war and criticized military support for Ukraine while also lauding Trump's reelection.
Francis Farrell
