I'm John Batchel with my colleague, Mary Kistel, Executive Vice President Stevens,

Incorporated, former senior advisor to the Secretary of State. Reuters, Russia said it had detained

a citizen of Uzbekistan who had confessed to planting and detonating a bomb which killed

Lieutenant General Igor Krilov in Moscow under instructions

of Ukrainian security service. What we have here is a man associated with chemical warfare,

in other words, a criminal, a war criminal. However, assassination, Mary, that does not take

us a step closer to the negotiation table, which is

implied in statements that we've seen from Mr. Zelensky and others.

Are you at this point supportive of the idea that the Trump administration will get a second

look at negotiation, a mince coup that was available years ago to give Dunbass to the Russian influence

and for Ukraine to retain its own sovereignty.

Well, I think President Trump has more credibility on the Russia brief than any other president

in modern times after the fall of the Soviet Union.

I mean, I say this list every time I talk

about it, but he sanctioned Putin's inner circle. He unleashed U.S. energy, meaning he took the price

down and took capital away from Moscow. He withdrew from the INF Treaty with unanimous NATO support.

I mean, it's a long list, kicked Russian spies out. So when the president says he wants

to get the war ended, I think he really means it, and I think he has leverage to do it. The question

is, what form will it take? You mentioned the Ukrainian assassination of Lieutenant General Igor

Kirillov on a Russian street.

I think that's happening because the Ukrainians want to send a message,

not just to Russia, but to the incoming national security team of President Trump to say,

...