Quotes
We all feel betrayed since Trump started to talk about his ‘peace plans.’ I would not be surprised if he’s Russia’s best agent. We have to hold on…that’s all.”
An intelligence officer told CNN
I am very exhausted, so is everyone here. Nothing changes for us here because of political statements.”
A Ukrainian company commander deployed within Russia’s Kursk region also told CNNWhile people understand Putin's influence is very high, the war has been going on for three years when they were promised it will take three weeks … When a new player enters here, Donald Trump, they probably expect it will make a difference."
Aleksei Miniailo, a Russian opposition politician and the founder of Chronicles, said
I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. I think they have the cards a little bit because they've taken a lot of territory."
U.S. President Donald Trump said on February 20
I think there is a group of European countries now, I think increasingly, including the U.K. potentially, and France, that actually are beginning to see the U.S. as part of the problem,
said Sam Green, director of democratic resilience at CEPA and professor of Russian politics at King's College London
I think there's a need to get a coordinated approach that brings in our allies and partners [and] maintains that source of strength,
Monahan said
Putin's going to try to frame negotiations as if Russia is going toe to toe with the United States, he will want to make it look like Russia got the better of us, to enhance his own image and the Kremlin's [to] throw weight against us globally, including in the MIddle East and Africa,
Hoffman explained[Putin] thinks he can break Europe. He doesn't think Europe is going to be strong enough without the United States,
Hoffman arguedIt’s getting the Russians to stop. That's the key,
he explainedBut what hangs over this is Vladimir Putin – he’s a KGB guy. He hates Donald Trump just as much as he hates Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, and every one of us, because the United States is the main enemy,
Hoffman explainedUkraine's NATO membership should not be a negotiation tactic, because we don't want Russia to have, you know, de facto veto power over who joins NATO,
Catherine Sendak, director of transatlantic defense and security with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said during a discussion on Ukraine on ThursdayMany European nations just have not had any experience in leading a force of that size,
said William Monahan, senior fellow with CEPA and former deputy assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs during the previous Trump administrationWhat a ceasefire would look like? I have no idea,
Hoffman said, highlighting the numerous and almost indeterminable factors that will shape whether Moscow and Kyiv agree to terms under a dealWe are way closer to the beginning than we are to the end,
former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman said as Ukraine entered a fourth year of war on MondayI don't know what damage, if any, it's causing, but the intelligence community can assess that."
When askedWhat Vladimir Putin thinks about the U.S. and Ukraine, about Zelenskyy and Trump going, rhetorically at least, toe to toe in the Octagon against each other – it's not a great look,
he addedDetermining where the U.S. could be providing key enablers, I think, would be an essential element of any force, and determining its credibility and deterrence capability,
he addedAll the language that we are hearing about Ukraine being responsible for the war, you might as well say the swimmers are responsible for attacking the shark in Jaws".
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, he added
Ukraine should hold its next elections at a time when the country can guarantee the security and democratic standards of those elections. [This] cannot be guaranteed during the current all-out war,
said Peter Erben and Gio Kobakhidze of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems non-profit
An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections.”
It was a move that prompted a withering rebuke from then-Senator John McCain, who chastised Trump, saying