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Donald Trump would be "the unwelcome skunk at the picnic" if he gatecrashed upcoming peace talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymr Zelensky in Turkey, an expert on international politics has warned. Ukraine's president challenged Putin to meet him personally in Turkey on Thursday, the latest move in a long exchange of proposals from both sides on the next steps in the U.S.-led peace effort.
The Kremlin has remained silent on whether or not he will attend. President Trump also happens to be relatively nearby geographically, currently on a four-day trip to the Middle East to negotiate trade deals. The prospective in-person summit between Russia and Ukraine's wartime leaders in Istanbul, should it happen, would come as the world remains on a knife edge, with fears of all out war between India and Pakistan; the ongoing humanitarian crisis between Israel and Gaza; and tensions across Eastern Europe as Vladimir Putin continues to rattle his sabre at NATO's border.
Prof Antony Glees, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Economics and International Studies at the University of Buckingham, told The Express that the Republican president gatecrashing the crucial summit could well happen – but might not necessarily be a good thing for anyone involved.
The professor said: “Donald Trump could well crash the Zelensky-Putin encounter.
“It'd be great political theatre. Everyone wants peace. So what could possibly go wrong?
“Everything.
“Trump – like everyone who believes that peace is made largely simply from wanting it – risks pushing for a short term deal that in fact makes future wars much more likely.
“It’s true he seems to have got India and Pakistan to cool it. But that's about his only success to date. Gaza deteriorates by the hour. Putin continues to demand the 'root causes' of the Ukraine conflict are sorted or he won't parley. He still thinks he's Peter the Great.
“The chances that Trump could work wonders are truly slim.”
Before his election, President Trump famously claimed on the campaign trail last year that he could negotiate a peace in Ukraine “within 24 hours”.
In reality, that did not happen, and there have been fears since his inauguration that Trump’s relationship with Putin might in fact spell disaster for Ukraine in the long term. The continued thawing of US-Russian relations could become even more of a problem for Zelensky if Trump is sat round the negotiating table come Thursday.
Prof Glees went on: “For one thing, Trump could pressurise Zelensky into giving Putin exactly what Putin needs to claim a win: letting him keep Crimea, keep the post 2022 occupied pieces of Ukraine, denying it sovereignty, the right to join the EU at some stage, even NATO.
“Putin would grab this and then start on the Baltic Republics. He's already massing some forces on the Finnish border.”
And Trump’s White House has a history of leaving Zelensky in awkward diplomatic situations on the world stage.
In February, the Ukrainian President was the centre of a media scrum inside the Oval Office were both Trump and his vice-President JD Vance berated him for not being grateful enough for American support during Putin’s invasion. A repeat of that scene would be among Vladimir Putin’s wildest dreams, claims Prof Glees.
“Bullying Zelensky in front of Putin would delight that smirking war criminal,” he told The Express.
“In my opinion the only way to peace is for Putin to be denied a win. Trump won't do that, he will be drawn towards Putin.
“If Trump does gate crash my fear is that he'll be the proverbial 'skunk at the picnic'. He'll ensure nothing good will come out of it.
“And if Trump does Trump up the world will be watching so he'll be delighted. Flattering Trump seems to be the defining principle of the global order these days so his presence they will certainly be a big deal.”
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