Monday17 February 2025
g-novosti.in.ua

Chaly: The later the meeting between Trump and Putin happens, the better it will be for us.

Did a "chemistry" develop in the communication between the presidents of Ukraine and the USA, Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump? Why is there discontent among Trump’s inner circle regarding "his second-in-command," Elon Musk? Will Trump and Musk attend the May 9 parade in Moscow? What urgent actions should Ukrainian diplomacy take? These topics were discussed by Valeriy Chaly, the head of the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center and Ukraine’s ambassador to the USA from 2015 to 2019, in an interview with Alena Batsman, the editor-in-chief of the publication "GORDON." Chaly also mentioned that Trump has confidence in Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, expressed the view that a meeting between the newly elected U.S. president and the illegitimate president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, is unlikely to happen before March, and explained the dangers of Trump's perception of Putin. The publication "GORDON" presents the text version of the interview.
Чалый: Чем больше задерживается встреча Трампа и Путина, тем это выгоднее для нас.

The translation of the interview into Russian will be published soon.

– Good evening, dear friends. Today we have Valeriy Chaly as our guest. Valeriy Chaly is the former ambassador of Ukraine to the USA and currently the head of the board of the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center. Mr. Valeriy, I welcome you.

– Thank you.

– Mr. Valeriy, the whole world is watching how the USA is actively preparing for Donald Trump's inauguration. What will happen after the inauguration (the conversation was recorded a few days before the inauguration. – "GORDON"), we will discuss a bit later… But now I want to ask you, do you expect any surprises from this inauguration? And how will it differ from other inaugurations?

– Well, if we are talking about the inauguration, I would like to take this opportunity to address the journalists who have also approached me with these questions… Just a few hours before the inauguration on the 20th, I will hold a more extensive briefing with my colleagues regarding all these issues – at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center, starting at 12:30 Kyiv time. You can tune in and listen to those who were officially invited to the inauguration of the US presidents. Why is this important? Because they often talk about how many people are invited to the inauguration.

In fact, there is a rule in America: for the last several presidents, several inaugurations – there was essentially one invitee from the country. And since it has been very difficult to ensure the work of all delegations at the level of presidents and prime ministers, they found a Solomon-like solution – those who are already present in America, namely ambassadors and official representatives of countries, represent the country at the inauguration. This was the case at the inaugurations of Barack Obama, Donald Trump – the 45th president, and Joseph Biden. And such an order had already been worked out; I was an official representative from Ukraine at the inauguration of the 45th president, Donald Trump…

– So you were already at Trump's inauguration.

– Yes, I was at the inauguration. Moreover, I remember all the hustle and bustle of our diplomatic corps in Washington, where everyone wanted their leaders to come instead of the ambassador, the president, or the prime minister. And somehow, a special team was created for this purpose by the elected president – a special inauguration committee was formed… And this inauguration committee and everyone involved even initially considered inviting, in a selective manner, leaders of countries instead of ambassadors – but later abandoned this idea. And ultimately – I repeat, it was representation only at the ambassadorial level.

This time – these rules have been broken. And the committee, by order of the elected president, sent invitations to various countries. To leaders, to people with whom Donald Trump has personal relationships… Politicians, I mean. Not even politicians. And it is very difficult to understand in this situation…

– So, Mr. Valeriy, as I understand it, this inauguration format is more like a private party for him as a person than the state rules that were in place? For example, he invited Xi Jinping. He said: "No, I won’t come myself, but let my deputy be there."

– No, this is definitely not a party. Because the inauguration of the president of the United States is an official event, and it must include the former president or president. So it's definitely not a party. If we talk about what is actually prescribed in the American constitution. How this is done, how it will go. The oath is prescribed, meaning the oath must be taken. Previously, it was in Congress; in recent years – it has been at the Capitol, facing the Mall. The Mall is a large area between… all the way toward… Well, for those who know, toward the Washington Monument… When people came, filling… Well, I would say, hundreds of thousands of people. This is very important because the idea of moving the ceremony to such a wide venue did not arise immediately. It was not that long ago: when television images became active in coverage. Then they created such a picture. Before that, it was at the Capitol.

So it cannot be a private party because there is a protocol part: this is the president's oath and the presentation to the position of both the president and the vice president. Then there is a speech, an inaugural address. Well, as a rule, these speeches have been around for a long time. Since ancient times. So this is part of such protocol. And then, in principle, there are protocol matters: signing the first decrees, going to the cabinet directly. But later in the evening, there may be more events that become a tradition for that or another period or president, like Trump, for example.

Well, in this particular case, as it is now… You know that unexpectedly the elected president said that it will not be all outside, it will not be near the Capitol – everything will be inside. There is a large hall. It’s called the Rotunda, a historical Capitol. Well, we see it when we see the dome of the American parliament building. The Rotunda is located there. Many official ceremonies take place in this hall, and the oath ceremony is moved there. And where will the people go in this situation? The people are planned to be at Capital One Arena. It’s a huge place, well, a sports palace, in our understanding. There are matches of the Washington Capitals. But it can be reconfigured, and it accommodates, I believe, 20 plus thousand people. But, well, that’s not the story – right? Watching on the screen…

– Just screens – and that’s it, right.

– Well, yes, screens. Screens. And so, of course, the official explanation – you will ask me if it was like this… Well, it was like this at Reagan's ceremony, if I’m not mistaken.

– Reagan, yes.

– A long time ago.

– Yes.

– But this is certainly not the same television picture. Not at all.

– Is it due to… Mr. Valeriy, is it due to security measures? Because he fears new assassination attempts? Because there is a real threat.

– Well, it was officially stated that it’s because there will be a sudden drop in temperature. And that’s true. In Washington, from Sunday to Monday, there is a sharp drop: down to minus 12 degrees. For us, this means nothing: 12 degrees. In Washington, just to understand, as soon as it snows – and it also snows initially – it’s a small catastrophe. So in Washington and in those states of such a stripe… In Chicago, it’s not so bad, but in Washington, as soon as there’s snow – that’s it, no one goes to work, no one goes to school. Everyone sits, they close themselves off. And only when the snow stops falling, they start to clear it, and some life begins. Cars don’t go out because, as a rule, they don’t have winter tires…

Screenshot: Alisa Batsman / YouTube

– Yes-yes-yes.

– That’s all. And a collapse. So, I think this is a serious indicator for them. Well, it was personally stated so that they wouldn’t freeze, plus there’s security, and a lot of people are involved… And security – that’s with horses and so on. So the frost, the weather – that’s the explanation. How truthful this explanation is? Well, I say: taking into account when I lived there and saw how it happens, I think, nevertheless, that this is the reason. But you know, after all, it probably isn’t the only one.

As for security – it’s unlikely that this could be Donald Trump’s initiative regarding security. You see: he has bullets flying near his temple, and he just shook it off and moved on. This is, of course… it’s not our story in Ukraine with Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych. So yes. By the way, with Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych, the story was that he expected this. And the egg flew when he was expecting it.

– Expected, right? Expected?

– Yes. He was warned that there could be such an assassination attempt… well, as if staged – right? That is, a staged assassination attempt to elevate… Well, I’m giving you what I know because I heard some things back then.

– Yes.

– And even some steps were taken to… He was an opponent in the elections: I was just in another headquarters. And having received such information that a third party was trying to do this – we tried to warn that… Despite the tough resistance, we warned to avoid problems. But it turned out that this third party was playing all these cards. So in our case, the presidential candidate – well, he