Doha, May 16: US President Donald Trump on Thursday visited a US base installation at the centre of American involvement in the Middle East as he uses his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region.
Trump plans to address troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, which was a major staging ground during the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also supported the recent US air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, though the strikes themselves came from two aircraft carriers in the region.
The president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict as he works to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme.
The President also meets business leaders in Qatar and heads to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, Trump said Thursday he was not surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a no-show for anticipated peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey this week.
Trump had pressed for Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul on Thursday. He brushed off Putin’s decision to not take part in the expected talks.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters as he took part in a business roundtable with executives in Doha on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.
Trump earlier this week floated potentially attending himself. The US president, however, noted on Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was already in the country for meetings with NATO counterparts. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, also plans to be in Istanbul on Friday for the anticipated Russia-Ukraine talks.
The push for direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin comes amid a flurry of negotiations aimed at producing a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
Putin was first to propose restarting direct peace talks Thursday with Ukraine in the Turkish city that straddles Asia and Europe. Zelenskyy challenged the Kremlin leader to meet in Turkey in person.
But the Kremlin has said its delegation at the talks will be led by Putin’s aide, Vladimir Medinsky, and include three other officials. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskyy will only sit down with the Russian leader.
Later Thursday, Trump will visit a US installation in Qatar at the centre of American involvement in the Middle East. He has used his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region.