Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols: Trump "acting like an intermediary, expressing Putin's wishes to Zelenskyy" [View all]
Trump held another round of peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, where the two leaders discussed the current 20-point peace plan that is on the table. Ahead of Trump's chat with Zelenskyy, the president said he had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin following a night of heavy bombing by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians.
Tom Nichols, a staff writer for The Atlantic, said in an interview on MS NOW's "Alex Witt Reports" that Trump appears to be trying to play the intermediary between Putin and Zelenskyy, a strategy that he said shows either that Trump doesn't understand the conflict or that he is lying about his efforts to end it.
"From the point of diplomatic practice, it's insane," Nicols said. You don't check in with the aggressor when you're talking to a putative friend and ally, and you don't report in afterwards. You talk with your friends, with your allies, with Ukraine, and then you tell the Russians, 'Here's the offer. Here's what you need to do.'"
"And instead, it's almost like Trump is acting like an intermediary, trying to express Putin's wishes to Zelenskyy and to the world, which is what he did after the Alaska summit," Nichols continued. "It's what he does every time he gets off the phone with Putin. The fact is, Vladimir Putin has this hold over Donald Trump that makes Trump and the American government into basically a de facto ally of Russia."
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2674833527/
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