US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told reporters Tuesday that President Donald Trump has been frustrated with Russia – just as he was frustrated with Ukraine previously – as the US leader wants to end the killing and “the tragedy we’re seeing play out on a daily and hourly [basis],” as he put it.
Speaking to reporters on a virtual press call ahead of this week’s critical Turkey talks on Ukraine, Whitaker said that the US will “ultimately have to judge” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s commitment to a long term ceasefire “by their actions, not their words.”
“We have to get to the table to negotiate an end to this war. And if we don’t get to the table, then there won’t be an end to this war,” he said, expressing hope for a highly expected dialogue between Ukraine and Russia this Thursday in Istanbul.
Ukraine and its European allies called on Putin over the weekend to agree to a 30-day ceasefire by Monday or face a new wave of sanctions.
The Kremlin was silent on Tuesday as the Western leaders’ ultimatum for a full and unconditional ceasefire passed its deadline.
Whitaker told reporters that the relationship between the US and Russia was “not probably even germane to where we are right now, because we need to see if we can end this war.”
“We just have to take this a step at a time,” he said when pressed if the US would impose more sanctions on Russia in coordination with European allies.“From where I sit right now, I think we are as close as we’ve ever been to the war ending and the fighting to stop,” he insisted.
“That’s a great step, but you know, again, we have to see how this plays out on Thursday and just take it a step at a time. So it’s just hard to predict what happens after that.” he said. “Hopefully, with God’s help, we’ll get a deal done on Thursday, and we’ll have peace and an end to the fighting.”
Whitaker also spoke about the upcoming NATO informal foreign ministerial meeting in Antalya, emphasizing the need for Alliance members to invest 5% of GDP in defense, as called for by Trump.
He highlighted the progress made with 20 allies increasing their defense budgets since Trump’s election.He also confirmed President participation in the upcoming NATO Summit in the Hague in June.