Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz on Sunday spoke about the state of the Ukraine war and how negotiations for an end to the nearly three-year conflict may play out as the Trump administration is set to take office in just eight days.
In an appearance on ABC News’s This Week, Waltz addressed President-elect Donald Trump’s comments last week that a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is being set up, saying that “preparations are underway” and while no “framework” has been established, including whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be included, he is expecting a call first between the leaders in the “coming days and weeks.”
“Well, we haven’t set the exact framework for it yet, we are working on that. But I do expect a call, at least, in the coming days and weeks. So, that would be a step and we’ll take it from there,” he said.
That timeline would coincide with Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the date when Trump previously claimed he would end the war. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine-Russia, Keith Kellogg, revised that timeline for the war’s end last week to “100 days.”
Waltz seemingly confirmed that new timeline, saying in the “coming months” the administration will work to develop a “relationship” and have conversations with Russia to achieve any sort of end in the fighting.
“From President Trump’s perspective, you can’t enter a deal if you don’t have some type of relationship and dialogue with the other side, and we will absolutely establish that in the coming months,” he said.
Regarding developments in the war itself, which he characterized as a “World War I-style meat grinder of people and resources, with World War III consequences,” Waltz said it was clear Ukraine would not be able to drive Russia all the way out of its territory.
“Everybody knows that this has to end somehow diplomatically,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s realistic to say we’re going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil, even Crimea. President Trump has acknowledged that reality, and I think it’s been a huge step forward that the entire world is acknowledging that reality. Now let’s move forward.”
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Trump said last week that Putin “wants to meet,” with the president-elect emphasizing that “we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess.”
During his first term, Trump met with Putin several times and drew controversy for speaking with him numerous times in private.