Trump’s conversation with Putin: Diplomat says whether Ukraine should expect a positive outcome

On Monday, May 19, a phone conversation is scheduled to take place between Trump and Putin. Ukraine should not expect anything good to come from it.

Diplomat and former Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007–2009), head of the Center for Russian Studies, Volodymyr Ohryzko, said this on "Espreso".

"To be honest, I don’t expect anything positive for Ukraine, unfortunately. Although I’m usually optimistic, in this case — no. Because what we've seen over the past weeks and months is that Trump defends Putin wherever he can and even where he shouldn’t. And this whole story around Istanbul once again demonstrated that, even though Putin blatantly — how to put it more delicately — ignores what Trump says, Trump doesn’t seem to notice," he said.

The diplomat emphasizes that U.S. President Donald Trump reacts calmly to the actions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin — particularly regarding the negotiations in Istanbul and who represented Russia at those talks.

"You (Putin — ed.) are invited, you’re offered a seat at the table, and you send some unknown persons, make corresponding statements, and so on. So what are we even talking about? But Trump, in all of this, reacts calmly: "Well, if Putin’s not coming to Istanbul, then I won’t go either. Was he even planning to go? No? Then why should I?" This is something that just doesn’t fit into a rational mind," the diplomat stressed.