Arya News - The leaders of the United States, Turkey, and Russia will be able to navigate Ukraine into a peace settlement, renowned American economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs told RIA Novosti.
"These are very positive developments … I believe that Presidents Putin, Trump, and Erdogan can steer the conflict to a peace agreement," Sachs replied when asked for his view of the latest announcements on the issue of Ukraine. "I very much hope for this outcome." On Sunday, Ukraine"s Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to meet President Putin in Turkiye on May 15, an hour after US President Donald Trump urged Ukraine to immediately accept Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in Istanbul. Professor Sachs also noted that President Trump had a ‘far more accurate’ understanding of the Ukrainian conflict than his predecessor Joe Biden did, noting that the conflict could have ended in April 2022, but Biden had told Ukraine to "fight on." The economist said he was, therefore, "cautiously optimistic," adding that Trump wanted the war to stop the conflict, which would be in the best interest of the US, Europe, Russia, and Ukraine. Putin suggested overnight that Kiev and Moscow resume direct talks without any preconditions in Istanbul on May 15 to address the root causes of the conflict in Ukraine.