“I don’t think you can have a win-win outcome between communism and democracy,” Tillis said. In the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine there needs to be “a clear winner and a clear loser”. And he reiterated: “We want Putin to fail here.”
Trump's son-in-law Kushner made the "win-win" statement in a press conference a week ago after visits by the two US negotiators to Moscow and Kiev. "You know, President Trump comes from the business world. In the business world, you think in the context of win-win, how you create opportunities for both sides," Kushner had said. The appearance of the two negotiators in Moscow had increased concerns in Ukraine that the Trump administration was allowing itself to be influenced too much by the Kremlin.
Tillis came to Kiev for the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) security conference along with his fellow senators Alan Armstrong and John Curtis. For security reasons, it was only allowed to report on it after the two-day event had ended.
Kushner was also briefly connected via video and explained that he hoped for further progress in the negotiations. When he praised how “committed” Putin was to seeking peace, he received laughter and occasional boos from the audience. Given the daily bombardment, people in Kiev doubt that Russia's president has any serious interest in negotiations.
According to Kushner and the Ukrainian government, preparations are underway for a trilateral meeting in October. Such a meeting would be more productive than shuttle diplomacy between the two sides, said Kushner. He said an agreement could have been reached if Ukraine had agreed to Russia's territorial demands. You have to find the “right formula,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is always willing to negotiate so as not to antagonize Trump. In a video address to the conference, he thanked Witkoff and Kushner for their recent visit. Every visit shows that life goes on in Kyiv, he said.
Tillis had already sharply criticized Witkoff and Kushner in February. The Trump critic said at the time that it made “no sense” for the two to lead the peace negotiations. They have no foreign policy experience and have not been confirmed by the Senate. Tillis has represented the US state of North Carolina in the Senate since 2015. He will not run again in the congressional elections in November.
Tillis said in Kiev that as US president he would take a "more aggressive stance" on the issue of secondary sanctions against Russia's trading partners. But you have to be “realistic” and proceed step by step.
The US Senate recently passed a new sanctions package against Russia with an overwhelming majority. It is primarily intended to curb Russian exports of oil and gas. The late Senator Lindsey Graham's bill passed with a vote of 86 to 11. Now, however, he is stuck in the US House of Representatives.
Senator Curtis said the Senate “spoke louder than ever” with this vote. The clear vote sends the message that we stand behind Ukraine. But at the moment it is fundamentally difficult to pass laws in the House of Representatives. Senator Armstrong added that he would be “super impatient” with the US instead of the Ukrainians. But democracy takes time.
The visitors from Washington were also asked why Russia can build four times more ballistic missiles than the United States can build Patriot interceptor missiles. Ukraine has been suffering from an acute shortage of missiles for months because the warehouses have been empty since the Iran war and US manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are not producing enough supplies.
Tillis explained that this is a structural problem. There is no more production capacity because demand was not that high in the past. The capacity problem will continue for a while. You can't just flip a switch and double production, he emphasized. Ukraine must therefore try to destroy the ballistic missile launch pads in Russia.
