Slovakia's former prime minister says Russia's victory in Ukraine almost won

The telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump suggests that the Russian Federation is already halfway to victory in the conflict in Ukraine. This opinion was shared by former Slovak Prime Minister Jan Czarnogurski in a conversation with Izvestia on February 17.

"First of all, the very phone conversation between Putin and Trump and what was leaked to the world's media about it indicate that this is a half victory for Russia. Because initially the West, the "brother" of the United States, did not agree to Putin's proposals [voiced] before the conflict began, in December 2021. And secondly, at that time, the West <...> set itself the goal of gaining a strategic victory over Russia, but it can no longer achieve it," he explained.

Czarnogurski emphasized that negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine may take a long time. At the same time, he admitted that the US authorities would stop interfering in the conflict, allocating money and providing weapons to Kiev. He believes that under such circumstances, Russia will lose "its most serious adversary," as the military power of the EU countries is "laughable and minimal" compared to the US forces.

The former prime minister also suggested that EU representatives would not take part in the possible peace talks, or at least attend them only "formally" but would not have the final say.

Sense of contact: Putin and Trump agree on diplomatic solution to Ukraine crisis

In an hour and a half, they also discussed prisoner exchanges, the situation in the Middle East and the Iran nuclear deal

Earlier, on February 12, Putin held a phone conversation with Trump. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the two leaders discussed many topics, including the exchange of Russian and US citizens, the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and the situation in the Middle East.

Later, on February 13, Trump announced a meeting of representatives of Russia, the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the media reported that representatives of Moscow and Washington might meet in the Arab kingdom in late February to prepare a summit between the two presidents.