One of Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics over his handling of the Russia-Ukraine war completely changed his tune after Monday’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump met with a delegation of European leaders and Zelensky in the Oval Office throughout Monday following his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Following Trump’s Alaska summit last week, Barack Obama’s US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, criticized the commander-in-chief for providing ‘no details’ regarding talks with the Russian leader.
However, McFaul changed his tune following the White House summit by calling the meeting ‘very positive’ in an interview with NBC News.
‘Whoever had the idea to bring all these European leaders together in addition to President Zelensky, that was a brilliant, brilliant idea,’ McFaul said.
‘And having it come so quickly after Alaska was also very important, because now they’ve changed the talking points here.’
McFaul noted, ‘Just in this meeting alone, they’ve walked back some of the positions that the president was echoing when he met with President Putin.’
Trump is expected to have a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelensky after the two leaders meet by themselves in the coming weeks.
Trump’s meeting with Zelensky and European leaders is being widely celebrated by pundits
McFaul is pleased that security guarantees for Ukraine was discussed by Trump and European leaders
Trump has previously dismissed the idea of needing an immediate ceasefire for the peace talks to continue
The former US ambassador celebrated ‘the fact that they’re talking about a ceasefire again’ adding that it was ‘very positive progress.’
‘There’s no logic —I want to underscore this —this idea that a ceasefire gets in the way of negotiations. That’s not historically true,’ McFaul continued.
‘And why should people continue to die while they’re negotiating? So, I’m glad that’s back on the table.’
During the multilateral White House meeting with European leaders, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz insisted that an immediate ceasefire is necessary, while Trump has previously dismissed the notion.
Moreover, McFaul praised this White House for setting the details for security guarantees for Ukraine.
‘That is major progress — with American assistance — I, myself, would like NATO guarantees rather than NATO-like guarantees,’ McFaul said.
Zelensky and Putin are expected to have a meeting in the coming weeks to discuss ending the war
‘But if you have to compromise, I think this is an important compromise and a step forward.’
Trump did not dismiss the idea of guaranteeing Ukraine’s security in a potential peace agreement with US and European troops.
During the Alaska meeting, Putin reportedly appeared open to allowing US soldiers to protect Ukraine in exchange for territory.