President Donald Trump has the right idea in trying to induce Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet one on one, but the Kremlin has no interest in doing that, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst told Newsmax on Wednesday.

Herbst, who was ambassador in Kyiv from 2003 to 2006 under then-President George W. Bush, told “Wake Up America,” “We know that Zelenskyy has been trying to see Putin for many years … I think Trump’s idea of putting it together makes perfect sense, but the Russians have no interest in doing it, just as they have no interest of making peace. Putin’s aim is to take political control of Ukraine, and for that, he wants to continue military operations.”

Herbst praised Trump’s mobilization of American military and economic pressure on Russia for the past two months — up until his now passed Aug. 8 deadline for Moscow to stop firing on Ukraine — as the correct approach. However, he stressed that “offering concessions to the Kremlin is not going to get them to negotiate in good faith.”

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