🚨 "Zelensky NOT in the Driver’s Seat — TRUMP Is" 🚗🕊️ | Ian Proud Reveals Ukraine Peace Shift | Forbidden News - video Dailymotion

Forbidden News

🗣️ Former UK diplomat Ian Proud reveals shocking insights from behind the scenes of the Ukraine-Russia peace talks. He claims Zelensky is no longer steering the negotiations, as Donald Trump takes a central role in influencing outcomes. With the EU struggling to maintain unity and sanctions falling short, all eyes are now on Trump’s next move. 🇺🇸🧩  📉 Are territorial concessions inevitable? Has the Western strategy failed? And is Trump now the de facto powerbroker in Eastern Europe?  Get the exclusive breakdown of how the dynamics are shifting from war to diplomacy and why the upcoming months could decide the fate of the region. 🕊️🌍  👉 #UkraineCrisis #RussiaUkraineWar #DonaldTrump #Zelensky #PeaceTalks #IanProud #Geopolitics #EUForeignPolicy #RussiaSanctions #UkraineConflict #Trump2025 #WorldPolitics #NATO #EasternEurope #DiplomacyMatters #GlobalAffairs #WarAndPeace #NeutralUkraine #USForeignPolicy #StrategicShift

Transcript

00:00Joining me now, former British diplomat and author Ian Proud.

00:04Let's start off just with that question of territorial concessions.

00:10Zelensky seems very firm. The Kremlin's position on this hasn't changed.

00:15Is this going to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks moving forward?

00:22Steve Witkoff, Trump's point person on the Ukraine talks,

00:27talks has been clear that this is going to be a more tricky issue than the NATO issue.

00:32But I think actually most people are gradually moving to a position where

00:36there'll be some sort of de facto recognition.

00:39Ukraine doesn't have the military power to take back those lands.

00:43There'll be some sort of inevitable separation.

00:46So the rest is about the details of what works through the negotiation process.

00:50In terms of another thing that Zelensky wants to see more of, sanctions.

00:56We also heard that soundbite from him, talking about it almost as the negotiations

01:01were ongoing in Istanbul.

01:03I mean, the Europeans are, what, 17 packages of sanctions in.

01:07I suppose the number itself would be the greatest reflection of how they haven't

01:12had an impact on Russia's, certainly on Russia's determination.

01:16So what do we think about the threat?

01:21At this point, is it political gains?

01:26Well, sanctions haven't really had a big impact on Russia.

01:30It's led to a sort of a re-calibration of Russia's economy.

01:34And it's also kind of prompted a de-industrialization of Europe.

01:38This is all political hot air.

01:40Who actually threatens sanctions as peace talks are beginning?

01:43That's only really going to disincentivize, you know, Russia getting on board with some

01:48process to end the war.

01:50So for me, this forms part of Zelensky's kind of tactics over the past week in particular

01:56to, you know, generate so much heat and noise to put the blame on Russia's daughter

02:02while himself avoiding talks at all costs.

02:05You know, I also want to ask you, Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation specifically,

02:12they sat down with British, French and German security, national security advisors in Istanbul

02:18before the negotiations with the Russian side.

02:23What could possibly have been discussed there?

02:27Is that an indication that at the helm is perhaps not Ukraine itself?

02:35Well, the person really in the driving seat right now is Donald Trump.

02:39And actually, he's a person who smashed this European consensus, you know, which has been

02:44supporting Ukraine and has studied resistance to any sort of dialogue and negotiation, you

02:50know, towards peace.

02:53So Trump has very much been driving this, you know, I think.

02:56And that's why Zelensky has been forced to come to the table finally, announcing very late

03:02last night that the Ukrainian delegation that would finally turn up in Istanbul, you know,

03:06today.

03:07So I don't see the Europeans, frankly, in the driving seat.

03:09I certainly don't see Zelensky in the driving seat, even though he spends most of his time

03:13talking to the international press.

03:15And the pressure here is coming from the American side to settle.

03:18And most of that pressure is on Zelensky himself.

03:22And the question then is, if it is Donald Trump that is leading the charge here,

03:26is the U.S. at this stage not ready to wrap up the war with Russia?

03:33I think it is.

03:33I think the U.S., frankly, has bigger priorities.

03:36It doesn't want to bankroll a war that Ukraine won't win.

03:40It wants to lead to some sort of, you know, substantial peace deal in the Middle East, including

03:46with Iran.

03:47It's focusing on China and the trade war.

03:49You know, frankly, the Ukraine war has been a huge drain on U.S. resources over the last

03:54three years, and I genuinely believe that Trump wants to bring it to an end.

03:58I also think he sees merit in some sort of strategic reset with Russia as well.

04:02So I personally assess that the U.S. does want to see this come to an end.

04:07And the biggest stumbling blocks have been the Europeans themselves, of course, and Zelensky.

04:12Regarding the Trump-Putin relationship specifically, they have spoken warmly about each other,

04:18though we know that Trump is also a showman.

04:21And he wants to appear to be the peacemaker and the negotiator-in-chief.

04:26Do you think it's more likely that we are going to see those two leaders sit down before

04:30we see Putin and Zelensky together in the same room?

04:34Possibly.

04:35Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, said yesterday that any final deal will be hammered out when

04:41President Putin and President Trump, you know, both meet.

04:45They are the two big power brokers in this, you know, settlement.

04:50Everything else is about getting the Europeans and Zelensky in a place where they're, you know,

04:55willing to accept some sort of settlement that allows actually, you know, long-term Ukraine

05:00to rebuild itself and to move closer to Europe if that's what it wants to do.

05:04But, I mean, I see kind of Trump and Putin possibly happening before Zelensky and Putin.

05:10I'm not really convinced that Zelensky really wants to meet Putin despite all the kind of

05:14angry words he's been issuing in the past two days.

05:18One aspect of this that I think many people are overlooking is obviously that what I say

05:24is that Russia is returning to the scene of the crime when it goes to Istanbul.

05:26We're going, almost rewinding to 2022, and I think that's been very important from

05:31the Kremlin's perspective in re-establishing the narrative, right?

05:35That just as then, now, in the same place, we're back.

05:40We've got many of the same demands.

05:42Ukraine, on the other hand, has said, no, no, what's happening today is completely separate

05:47from what happened in 2022.

05:50What do you make of that attempt to sever itself from history?

05:56Well, you know, back in March and April 2022, Ukraine signed up to becoming a permanently

06:05neutral state.

06:06It signed up to taking itself out of any future aspiration, you know, to join NATO.

06:12And, of course, if we start from that piece of paper that Zelensky almost signed or was encouraged

06:19not to by Ross Johnson and Victoria Nuland, you know, and others, then the starting point

06:24is that Ukraine doesn't join NATO, and that's a very, very difficult pill, you know, for

06:28Ukraine to swallow, but it's one that it, you know, will have to, I suspect, at the end

06:33of this process.

06:34Actually, the bigger issue trumping that now is the territorial issue, quite frankly.

06:38I think the Americans have moved on from the NATO issue.

06:42You know, it's just getting the Europeans and Zelensky in the place where they will have

06:45to, too.

06:45But, I mean, that is the scene of the crime challenge that Zelensky is trying to avoid.

06:51The fact that the starting point of the negotiations is no NATO.

06:55And, of course, so much of this for Zelensky is bound up in his own political future, too.

07:01I think the positive, of course, that people are drawing short as they were.

07:05The two sides did sit down, and it seemed to be quite a firm commitment to continue talks,

07:11too.

07:11Some concrete steps are even taken, which, given the hiatus of three years, I think is

07:16more than one could have expected.

07:18Ian Proud, former British diplomat and author, we very much appreciate your time this Friday.

🚨 "Zelensky NOT in the Driver’s Seat — TRUMP Is" 🚗🕊️ | Ian Proud Reveals Ukraine Peace Shift | Forbidden News

Category

Transcript

Recommended