In an interview with CNN Portugal, Truro Barroso explored how North American elections could affect the course of the war in Ukraine, assuming that Putin is “waiting for Trump.” Real peace, he pointed out, is not a spectacle the world is waiting for
Former European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso has recognized that the North American elections, along with the possible election of Donald Trump, will be the most decisive element in the course of the war between Russia and Ukraine. He acknowledged a change in the position of European leaders regarding the ceding of Ukrainian territories as part of the path to peace.
In an interview with CNN Portugal, Durão Barroso explained that “for now, nothing will happen until the elections in America” in this conflict on Europe’s doorstep. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was “waiting for Trump” and “someone close to him”.
“If I had to bet, Trump probably has the best chance. There’s this energy of victory that I don’t see on the other side of this excitement,” Barroso said.
“Even Russia has not achieved its goal of controlling Ukraine, turning Ukraine into a kind of Belarus, a satellite country that has complete control over its foreign policy and security. Even Ukraine has not been able to recover, or does not appear to have been able to recover its entire territory,” he described.
In an interview with Nuno Santos, he admitted that European politicians have started talking about “possible scenarios” for a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine.
“European politicians have avoided talking about the concessions that Ukraine can make because they are right to say that we do not have the authority to say that an occupied country can make certain commitments when it is occupied”, he began, adapting to the context.
Even so, the former head of the European Commission does not believe total peace is possible: “Peace seems practically impossible. And peace, in the sense of real reconciliation, I am sure, is not in the near future”, “there remains this problem of distrust between Russia and Europe”.
Asked if a change in NATO leadership, with the election of Mark Rutte as Secretary General, would bring changes to the conflict, Durão Barroso admitted that it would not, as “in essence, the orientation is already defined”.
“What can change this, yes, is Trump. It may introduce some nuances, it may introduce some discomfort in Kiev,” he summarized.
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