Trump says Russia has ‘the cards’ in Ukraine peace talks as ex-diplomat deems him ‘very weak’

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President Donald Trump has been deemed ‘very weak and vulnerable’ after saying that Russia has ‘the cards’ in peace negotiations around Ukraine.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he believes Russia wants to see the end of the war with Ukraine, a day after US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia without inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

‘I really do. I think they have the cards a little but, because they’ve taken a lot of territory,’ said Trump of Russians on Wednesday.

‘They have the cards.’

US Donald Trump (middle) said Russia has ‘the cards’ in peace talks while sparring with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and considering a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) (Pictures: Reuters/Getty Images)

On Thursday, former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev gave his take on the meeting in Riyadh – and it did not cast Trump and the US as dominant in the conversation.

Bondarev said that ‘experienced’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov acted as the chief negotiators and ‘are undoubtedly loyal to President (Vladimir) Putin so he expects no surprises from them’.

‘I think that they also quite sure that they can squeeze Trump into very, very large, huge concessions, even without him knowing that those are concessions,’ opined Bondaraev.

‘And I think this Trump’s behavior tells them that he’s very, very much interested to make this deal as soon as possible.

President Donald Trump spoke aboard Air Force One on Wednesday

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‘That’s again, puts him in a very weak and vulnerable position because he thus makes himself dependent on the goodwill from Moscow and Moscow can exploit it.’

Bondarev, who resigned as a Russian diplomat in May 2022 in protest of the invasion of Ukraine, added that the US has ‘already sacrificed a lot without getting anything form Putin’.

‘If they are not put on paper, they mean nothing. And Trump is already giving Putin quite a lot. So I don’t find it very, very promising,’ he said.

‘I don’t find it how it could strengthen the negotiation position of the United States.’

US 'weak' in negotiations with Kremlin says former Russian diplomat FORMER RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT, BORIS BONDAREV, DESCRIBING RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC TEAM IN SAUDI ARABIA, SAYING: "I must say that it's quite a normal delegation list for such a meeting, which is a preliminary meeting, kind of the first, you know, the testing waters or something like that. And of course, Lavrov and Ushakov I think they were kind of chief negotiators. They are experienced, they know their job very well. They are undoubtedly loyal to President Putin. So he expects no surprises from them." — Former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev remarked on the meeting between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia

Also on Thursday, a planned news conference with Zelensky and Trump’s Ukraine envoy was abruptly canceled amid rising tensions between the two nations.

The US initiated the cancelation, according to Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov.

Trump and Zelensky have traded barbs since the US president on social media called his Ukrainian counterpart a ‘modestly successful comedian’ who ‘has done a terrible job’ leading his country.

Zelensky shot back that Trump ‘lives in a disinformation space’ governed by Russia.

epa11904026 A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Saudi National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. The agenda of the meeting of the Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with American officials in Riyadh on 18 February is devoted to the restoration of the entire range of bilateral relations, as well as the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement, the Kremlin reported. EPA/RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (right) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (second from right) attend a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (second from left), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (third from left) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (left), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Saudi National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday (Picture: EPA)

Trump has continued to lash out at Zelensky, calling him a ‘dictator’ twice in the same day.

Putin on Wednesday said he ‘would be glad to meet Donald’, after Trump said he would probably be open to meeting him this month.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a summit between Putin and Trump could possibly happen this month or later.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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Trump says Russia has ‘the cards’ in Ukraine peace talks as ex-diplomat deems him ‘very weak’

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