William Taylor to Newsmax: Trump Has Leverage to Push Putin Toward Deal

President Donald Trump “has the ability, has the leverage, has the cards” to use during his summit Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin to make him understand he needs to stop his country’s war with Ukraine, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor told Newsmax on Friday.

“As President Trump has said, [Putin] needs to stop the killing,” Taylor said on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “President Putin will not do it until he is forced. And President Trump has the ability, has the leverage to make that happen. As President Trump says, he’ll know very soon, in the meeting, whether or not President Putin is ready to do that.”

Trump has acknowledged that there is a 25% chance that the meeting could fail to bring an agreement. He also said there is a possibility of involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a follow-up summit if Friday’s talks go well.

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