Independent Dutch journalist Sonja van den Ende joins to discuss the stalled peace talks in Ukraine, highlighting why Zelensky’s presidency is contested ⚖️. She also breaks down Trump’s recent call with Putin ☎️, the exclusion of Keir Starmer from negotiations 🚫, and how the European Union’s actions are sabotaging efforts for peace in the region 🇪🇺⚠️.
00:00And let's discuss this live now with independent Dutch journalist Sonja van den Ende.
00:04Welcome to the program, Madam.
00:07President Trump has not mentioned the UK leader among those who he has informed of his conversation with Putin.
00:13And that is a long list.
00:16Meanwhile, Zelensky has insisted on joint talks with Russia, the US and Britain.
00:22What do you make of Trump's omission of Starmer compared to what Zelensky is demanding?
00:27Well, I think the UK, but also the European Union.
00:32I mean, he said that he doesn't want the European Union there in the negotiations.
00:37At least this is what he said a while ago.
00:40And I can imagine because it's clear that the UK and also I must mention the European Union are, we can say, fairly radicalized.
00:51They are only speaking about war.
00:54They don't speak about the solution.
00:55I mean, like today, then there was a telephone conversation.
00:59So I looked it up in the media, in the European media, in the British media, German media.
01:06And unfortunately, what they say is that the negotiations or the telephone call was not positive because, you know, President Putin or the Russians hesitated to agree on the 30 day ceasefire.
01:21This is what they keep on saying.
01:23And I think this is not a basis to continue negotiations, because with a ceasefire, you have to have clear rules.
01:33You have to make sure that, you know, the party like that's Ukraine should not rearm in this 30 day period.
01:41So and I think he knows Zelensky or Trump knows that Keith Starmer is, well, he's one of the, let's put it this way, one of the warmongers.
01:53And he's the closest associate with Zelensky.
01:56So he's his closest associate and, well, I don't think that's why he cannot mention Keith Starmer in this.
02:05And he's also formed the coalition of the willing, of course.
02:08This is, they want to send troops to Ukraine, peace troops, that's what they mean by that.
02:13But, so this is why I think they excluded or Trump excluded Keith Starmer in this.
02:21Also, I think the European Union isn't very happy about this phone conversation between Putin and Trump, because it makes it more difficult to continue with the conflict in Ukraine.
02:31But, so when do you think direct conversation between Putin and Zelensky could actually take place?
02:37And in your view, can Zelensky's signature put a point on any deal?
02:42Or do you think it's more something that needs to be worked out in the Ukrainian parliament given that his presidential term ended a year ago?
02:50Yeah, exactly what you said.
02:52I mean, the Russian side said some time ago that Zelensky is actually an illegal president at the moment.
03:00At the moment, his term is finished. It was last May finished.
03:04So, I mean, this is something that has to be done in the Ukrainian parliament.
03:09They have to choose or they have to vote for either Zelensky or a new president.
03:15This is what they have to do.
03:16So, it's very hard to talk to a president who has no power, actually.
03:22And, I mean, he is saying all the time, you can read it in the mainstream media and news in the West, that he is legal and he is now in a war with Russia.
03:33So, there's no talk about that he is illegal.
03:36He is legal and the people of Russia should know that he is a legal entity to negotiate with.
03:42But, actually, it's not, of course.
03:45And, yeah, I think the Russian side said that all the time, that he is not a legal president.
03:51So, there has to be, they have to do something in Ukraine.
03:56But, of course, Europe is not wanting this for the moment.
03:59I mean, they still want to keep Zelensky there because maybe there they don't have another candidate.
04:04They don't have another puppet to put there.
04:06So, they keep, you know, backing up Zelensky.
04:09We can see that, you know, when he is traveling or when they travel to Kiev from the European Union, how they embrace him, how they say, okay, you know, it's great.
04:18And you are like our hero defending European freedom, prosperity and so on.
04:25So, but, actually, he is an illegal president at the moment.
04:29And I think it's hard to negotiate with an illegal president.
04:32Now, looking at the European Union, which, like we've been discussing, has been making quite an effort to support this conflict and fuel it even and send funds and weapons to Ukraine.
04:48Do you think, though, that we can see a change in EU, in the European Union's approach to this and maybe support this US-backed initiative for Russian-Ukraine peace talks?
05:01For the moment, I don't see any change.
05:04I hope in the long run, but we can see all these elections taking place in Europe, like recently now in Romania.
05:11Europe is putting all these puppets in place who are pro-EU.
05:15This is very important.
05:16And like with the Romanian case, I mean, the biggest NATO, nobody speaks about NATO, but I mean, the US is still part of NATO, like European countries.
05:27And the biggest NATO hub or base is in Romania or is built in Romania.
05:32So they don't want somehow peace negotiations.
05:37I mean, they somehow also refuse to speak to the Russian side.
05:43And this is very bad.
05:44I know from people who I know throughout Europe, they are preparing themselves for war with Russia.
05:50I mean, how crazy is this?
05:52So, I mean, we had some hope, maybe like the parties like AFD or in Le Pen in France.
06:00But I think the agenda at the moment, it's not focused on peace.
06:07And they do everything in their power.
06:09And that's what we see to try to convince President Trump.
06:13And I think President Trump sincerely wants peace.
06:16I think we can see that.
06:17We can hear that from him.
06:19Maybe he's too eager.
06:20You know, he's saying, OK, we need it today.
06:23But peace negotiations will not be today.
06:26This is a long negotiations.
06:29It should be, you know, taking everything into account, like the battlefield, the soldiers, everything.
06:35But the European Union, for the moment, they are not willing to talk.
06:40And they try to convince President Trump or the Americans who want peace that, you know,
06:45Russia is a threat to Europe.
06:47And they have this idea that 2030 they will invade Europe.
06:51And how can you be like that?
06:53I mean, Russia said time and time again, no, we are not going to invade Europe.
06:58Why should we invade Europe?
07:00We want good relations.
07:01We always had good relations.
07:02We always had good relations.
07:03So, well, it's I hope it will change.
07:07I sincerely hope that you politicians change their attitude towards Russia.
07:13And the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has said that Trump's stance on Ukraine is neutral.
07:20He's trying to mediate this whole process while, as you've just mentioned, the EU is very pro-Ukrainian.
07:27It's trying to sway Trump towards Kyiv.
07:30What do you make of these different positions and stances and which one looks stronger at the moment?
07:37Well, at the moment, I think because the US, of course, is a large country, it has more influence and power in the world than the EU, the European Union.
07:50They think they have. But OK, it's not like that.
07:53So his words are really something.
07:56But I mean, it's difficult because the European Union are the direct neighbors of Russia and NATO is also there.
08:06So this is a big problem.
08:08And the EU countries are part of NATO, like the US is a part of NATO, of course.
08:13And I think if President Trump really wants to, you know, see this peace through, really, he should stop all the weapon deliveries to to to to Ukraine.
08:25This is what should happen.
08:26I mean, European Union is sending weapons, but it's nothing in compared, of course, what the US is sending.
08:33So he should stop this immediately.
08:35And then I think if this is happening, if the High Mars are not flying around anymore in Donetsk and so on, then we can maybe talk straight away directly about peace.
08:48Independent Dutch journalist Sonja van den Hende, thank you so much for this input.
