A former national security adviser to Donald Trump has criticized the presidential candidate’s peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine war.
In an interview with CBS‘ Face The Nation, which aired on Sept. 29, H.R. McMaster dismissed Trump’s claims as a “myth.”
Trump said in May that: “If I were president, and I say this, I will end that war in one day, it would take 24 hours. I know Zelensky well. I know Putin well. I would get that ended in a period of 24 hours. It would be easy, that deal would be easy.”
This claim has been dismissed by military experts. It was also criticized by former Vice President Mike Pence, who told CNN: “The only way you could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours would be by giving Vladimir Putin what he wants. And that’s the last thing the United States should ever call upon Ukraine to do.”
Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump on September 27, 2024, in New York City. Trump’s Russia-Ukraine war peace plan has been criticized by H.R. McMaster.
Alex Kent/Getty Images
The Kremlin also critiqued Trump’s claim, saying that there was a need to “be realistic,” as per Reuters.
When contacted for comment, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek in an email that: “President Trump will end the war and killing. Others seem like they want the war and killing to continue.”
McMaster is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018, under Trump. He is currently a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Newsweek reached out to McMaster via email for further comment.
In the interview, Robert Costa asked McMaster: “Former President Donald Trump, who you know well, he met with President Zelensky in recent days. He keeps talking about being able to broker something between Zelensky and Putin. Do you buy it?”
“I don’t,” he responded. “It’s a real misunderstanding of war. To assume that you can get a favorable political outcome without a favorable military outcome. That’s never really happened in war.
“If you want to accelerate toward progress, toward a settlement, is to convince Putin that he’s losing the war.
“I think that’s the only way you get a favorable settlement. How do you do that? You demonstrate our resolve to continue to support the Ukrainians as they defend themselves against this continued onslaught by the Russians. That’s how you get to, maybe, favorable conditions for negotiation.”
Russia has taken military control of about 20 percent of Ukraine since it annexed Crimea in 2014. Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.
Last week, while discussing the conflict at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, Trump vowed to get out of Ukraine, and criticized the leadership of Joe Biden in relation to the conflict.
“We’re stuck in that war unless I’m president. I’ll get it done, I’ll get it negotiated. We gotta get out,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the U.S. last week, where he met with Biden, Harris and Trump. He pitched his “victory plan,” and attended the opening of the UN General Assembly.
Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
