Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian oil tycoon and exiled Kremlin critic, has suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be prepared to negotiate a deal on Ukraine with former U.S. President Donald Trump. However, any such agreement may involve ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia.
In a recent interview with U.K. broadcaster Trevor Phillips, Khodorkovsky said, “I have the impression that Putin has sent Trump a signal that he is ready for a deal. Putin wants to get the whole of Donbass, those parts he hasn’t occupied yet.” He also warned that Putin might attempt to secure territorial gains in eastern Ukraine to further destabilize the country.
Speaking about U.S.-Russia relations ahead of speculation surrounding the upcoming Trump-Putin meeting in Hungary, Khodorkovsky admitted he is uncertain about both leaders’ intentions. “I have already started getting doubts about understanding Putin and what he really wants,” he said. “I never had any idea about Trump or how to understand him either.”
Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos, spent over a decade in a Russian prison and now lives in London. He has been highly critical of Britain’s diplomatic approach toward Russia, claiming that the U.K. lacks the expertise it once had on Russian affairs. “It would make sense for the U.K. to also have a dialogue with people with the knowledge and expertise, who are natural allies of the British government,” he explained.
He emphasized the importance of exerting psychological and political pressure on Putin. “Creating a set of problems for Putin that he has to resolve himself, along with consolidating the opposition, is an opportunity to pressure the pivotal point of this conflict the pivotal point is Putin himself,” Khodorkovsky said.
Despite the risk to his own safety he faces potential life imprisonment if he returns to Russia Khodorkovsky continues to call for an end to the war in Ukraine. He noted, “Stopping this war… would be much more important than waiting another few years for Putin to leave the stage.”
President Trump is scheduled to meet Putin in Hungary, marking the Russian leader’s first known visit to an EU country since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022.
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