The meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Mar-a-Lago showed that the American president has not turned his back on Ukraine. Any other scenario would have caused a chain reaction in Europe. This was stated by Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014-2016, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, on Espreso TV.

"Trump has not turned his back on Ukraine. I understand what the chain reaction would have been if events unfolded differently, especially in Europe. Imagine what Orbán, the Slovaks, the Czechs, and then a whole range of political forces, from Germany to France and even the United Kingdom, would have done. This would have created a domino effect that would have effectively undermined Ukraine's ability to continue fighting and achieve a just peace," Yatsenyuk stressed.

The former prime minister has expressed scepticism about the negotiations with Russia. "I do not believe that these are real peace talks, and that Russia is truly ready for a lasting peace. As of now and over the past four years, the whole story about peace talks is nothing more than a smokescreen and a KGB special operation," he said.

According to the KSF Chairman, the Kremlin will only resort to real negotiations on one condition – when it feels immediate danger.

‘For Russia, this is an economic threat. The Russian economy will really suffer next year. This is not a reason for Putin, a war criminal, to stop the war, but it will create major problems within Russia, including social, economic and military ones, because this war machine needs to be financed,’ Yatsenyuk explained.

He pointed to oil prices as an indicator of future problems for the Russian economy. ‘Even the Russian so-called media reports that there will be either a recession or stagnation, i.e. either zero growth or a decline in the Russian economy,’ the former prime minister added.

He also outlined a second key element for strengthening Ukraine's negotiating position – the supply of long-range weapons, something that is not yet there. However, Chairman of the KSF noted the European Union's step forward in granting a loan to Ukraine. ‘This sent a signal to Russia that Ukraine has the financial resources to continue fighting,’ he added.

Apart from that, Yatsenyuk drew attention to the role of China and the fallacy of the American strategy of separating Russia from Beijing. "The United States needs to put pressure on China. And it is an absolutely strange idea that Russia can be separated from China [...] They are strategic and ideological allies. The US should not be trying to separate Russia from China; the main thing is for the US not to separate itself from the European Union," the former prime minister stressed.