Breaking News: Donald Trump ‘not capable’ of ending Ukraine war, former US ambassador to Ukraine says…See More

It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that he would be willing to step down in exchange for peace in Ukraine or NATO membership

The former US ambassador to Ukraine has cast doubt on whether US President Donald Trump could help Ukraine and Russia reach a peace agreement.

It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that he would be willing to step down in exchange for peace in Ukraine or NATO membership.

During an interview with Times Radio, former US ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, said he did not think Trump could broker an agreement that would appease both Zelensky and Russia President Vladimir Putin.

He’s in a position to put on the table a deal that would actually stop the war,” said Herbst. “He would then have to impose clear penalties on Putin for rejecting it. Putin, as I said, does not want to stop where his forces are currently located. He wants effective political control of Ukraine. But Trump has said that’s unacceptable.”

He added that the Ukrainian leader was in “a very difficult situation” due to “uncertainty about the American position” since Trump took office.

“It seemed as Trump took office, he was determined to get a stable peace deal quickly by insisting on compromises from both Ukraine and Russia. And while Zelensky expressed a willingness to compromise, we’ve seen no willingness to compromise by the Russians. Yet the Trump administration, for some reason, has offered Putin several concessions for free,” Hebst said.

Herbst maintained that in order to safeguard Ukraine’s sovereignty, Zelensky’s demand for legally binding security guarantees was “reasonable because Putin’s aim is not to simply take control of the land he is illegally occupying today.”

“He [Putin] wants to establish effective political control over Ukraine, which involves at a minimum taking great swaths of additional Ukrainian territory and maybe changing the government in Kiev.”

According to Herbst, recent changes in US policy have put more pressure on Zelensky than on Putin, despite Trump’s initial recognition that Putin was the primary barrier to peace.