Trump compares Ukraine to Gaza: Will he suggest resettling Ukrainians at his meeting with Zelenskyy?

Journalist Vitaliy Portnykov discussed this on Espreso TV.

According to him, this issue is a major priority for Trump, who dedicated his first presidency to it. That perspective needs to be considered when analyzing his approach to Ukraine.

"Next week, Zelenskyy will meet with Trump. Everyone will say, ‘What great news — Zelenskyy met with Trump, and Trump talked to him before talking to Putin.’ But what if Trump tells Zelenskyy something like this: ‘Maybe you should leave. Everything is destroyed. Why stay? Resettle people in Poland, Hungary, or the Czech Republic’?" Portnykov said.

Trump repeatedly compares Ukraine to Gaza. He insists, “Gaza is completely destroyed, these places are uninhabitable.” But that’s simply not true, Portnykov noted.

"If Trump makes such statements during the meeting, how should we react? What if he tells Zelenskyy, ‘Everything in Donbas is destroyed — why hold on to these territories? What are you protecting? It’s better to move somewhere livable. Why do you even need this land? Nothing will be here for the next 100 years.’ When Trump claims Gaza is totally destroyed, he’s actually reinforcing Hamas propaganda. Once the fighting stopped, it turned out the destruction wasn’t as extreme as the propaganda claimed. But Trump’s words allow Hamas to say, ‘Even Trump admits it’s impossible to live here.’ This is an excuse for hate," he added.

• On February 5, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Russia’s narrative about Zelenskyy’s “illegitimacy” but said Moscow is open to negotiations.
• On February 6, U.S. special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, denied reports that he would present Trump’s peace plan at the Munich Security Conference. According to him, Trump himself will do that.
• On February 7, Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak spoke with Kellogg about his upcoming visit to Ukraine and the situation on the front lines.
• Also on February 7, Kellogg stated that Trump is prepared to double sanctions on Russia to end the war, especially in the energy sector.