Russia-US Talks In Saudi Arabia: What To Expect

Political scientist's analysis.

Talks between US and Russian delegations took place in Saudi Arabia.

What to expect from them? Charter97.org spoke about this with Slovak political scientist and President of the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO) (Bratislava) Grigorij Mesežnikov:

— It is very difficult to make any assumptions based on what the Donald Trump administration is saying. There were different signals ahead of this meeting.

Some said one thing, others said another, it seems obvious to me that now the US will promote an unfriendly line towards Ukraine and, on the contrary, create more favorable conditions for Russia.

I previously assumed that the US would not make any significant concessions to Russia, although, of course, it would be difficult to negotiate without concessions, but, apparently, they have already staked out a space in which Russia feels absolutely comfortable. Before the negotiations even began, Trump (and not only he) said that there would be no NATO membership for Ukraine, that the occupied territories would have to be surrendered, plus an attempt, in fact, to blackmail Ukraine with rare earth metals.

It is difficult for me to predict exactly how these negotiations will end, but it is absolutely obvious that their first results will hardly be favorable for Ukraine. Therefore, I am not surprised by the position of Ukraine, which declares in advance that no matter what is achieved in these negotiations, Ukraine will not recognize them, since it was not present at them.

— An emergency summit of European leaders took place yesterday. Should we expect a strong position from Europe in the peace negotiations?

— First, I will start with the fact that Europe is consolidated. That is, the EU plus countries that are not part of it: Great Britain, Norway. Unlike the position of the American administration, Europe's position is absolutely clear, distinct and predictable. Their signals are not contradictory, despite tactical differences, they do not express any doubts about supporting Ukraine. Secondly, European countries have realized that they have not used the time they had to strengthen their own defense capabilities. This is what they will do now.

They will continue to support Ukraine both politically and militarily. By the way, according to available data, European NATO member countries have provided significant support to Ukraine not only financially, but also with weapons supplies. And this was significant assistance. It is clear that the United States gave Ukraine more, for example, HIMARS, but as for tanks and aircraft, European countries were not lagging behind the United States. I think this will continue.

European countries want and will support Ukraine, they strive to coordinate their efforts. European countries will not retreat from this position, they rightly demand their full presence at the peace talks, because Ukraine is not just a partner, but an associate member of the EU. This is somehow forgotten, and this is very important.

The way the EU is currently cooperating with Ukraine is a very solid support. If what is happening in Saudi Arabia now is “Munich 2.0,” then I can say that Ukraine is in a much more favorable situation compared to Czechoslovakia, for which there was no one to stand up for it in 1938. Ukraine has solid support.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail [email protected]