Washington:
US President Donald Trump’s top security adviser called on Sunday for an end to the escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia and for both sides to sit at the negotiating table.
“We must bring this to a responsible end. We must restore deterrence, restore peace and get ahead of this ladder of escalation, not react to it,” said Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for the influential role of US national security adviser. (NSA).
In recent days, Washington has allowed Kiev to use US-supplied missiles to attack targets on Russian territory and agreed to supply the country with landmines, prompting Moscow to respond with the use of an experimental ballistic missile for the middle distance.
Waltz, a noted foreign policy hawk and former US special forces officer, has been critical of Russia but, like Trump, is opposed to increasing aid to Ukraine.
“President Trump has been very clear about the need to end this conflict,” he told the American media outlet Fox News on Sunday.
“We need to discuss who is at the table, whether it is an agreement, a truce, how we can get both sides to the table and then what is the framework of a deal?”
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with the United States and others coming to Kiev’s aid in its fight to hold onto territory in the country’s east.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has in the past ruled out ceding any territory to Russia, telling Fox News on Tuesday that Ukraine would lose the war if Washington withdrew funding.
President Joe Biden’s administration has promised a smooth transition to Trump, who has promised major shakeups in both foreign and domestic policy.
Waltz said Sunday he had met with Biden’s NSA Jake Sullivan and warned adversaries abroad not to think they could gain an advantage in the months before Trump takes office in January.
“For our adversaries who think this is a time of opportunity where they can play one government off the other. They are wrong… we are sitting hand in hand.”
Waltz also praised “Israel’s strength and perseverance” in its offensive against Hamas, which local authorities say has killed at least 44,211 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians.
The war was sparked by the attack on Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, a cross-border attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
“This is a moment to make some kind of settlement that not only puts a pause on the future October 7 (but) really brings stability to the Middle East,” Waltz said.
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