982
US President Donald Trump's strategy regarding Ukraine, Russia, and the Russian-Ukrainian war is unclear. He wants to reach a peace agreement, but Trump is unlikely to care whether it will be successful.
This was stated in an interview with "Sospilny" by Michael McFaul, a professor of political science, director of the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, US Ambassador to Russia in 2012-14, and former special assistant to President Obama for national security.
“I can only guess (what Trump’s strategy is – UNIAN). It seems that he wants to get a peace deal first and foremost. But I don’t think he cares whether it will be successful. He just wants to be able to say, ‘I proposed an end to the war.’ If it ends, he’ll be happy. If not, he’ll just say, ‘Well, I tried, and the Ukrainians, or the Russians, didn’t accept it.’ It’s not his fault, they say,” McFaul said.
The ex-ambassador also commented on the statements of the American and Russian sides after the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. According to him, public and informal talks so far only concern concessions from the Ukrainian side. In particular, the delegates of the Russian Federation and the United States say that it is the Ukrainians who should cede territory to Russia, that Ukraine cannot be a member of NATO. That the American military will not be part of the peacekeeping forces in Ukraine. That Kyiv should give half of the profits from mineral extraction. That Ukraine should hold presidential elections before the negotiations.
“All of these are concessions to Putin. I participated in negotiations with him. You can’t agree to concessions at the beginning of the negotiations. They are possible during the process. What is missing from Trump’s strategy is signs that the American side is trying to get concessions from Putin. I hope they will change tactics. The approach that we are seeing so far will not lead to lasting peace – you are just giving Putin everything he wants. And he will ask for more,” McFaul said.
The former diplomat is positive that Trump is trying to mediate and end this barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine. Direct contacts with the Russian authorities should be part of this.
“Therefore, I am not against the very fact of meeting with the Russians. What worries me is that this team has only been in their positions for a few weeks. They have never had to deal with someone like this. Whereas Sergei Lavrov has been the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry for over 20 years. I had experience in negotiations with Lavrov and Putin’s aide Ushakov (Putin’s foreign policy adviser – UNIAN). Now I see the classic tactics of the Russians. They offer nothing, demand the maximum and wait for the other side to start discussing it within the team because they are interested in a deal. But this will not lead to a deal that would meet the national interest of the United States. It will also not lead to a good deal for Ukraine,” he said.
At the same time, McFaul is convinced that approaches need to change. The American side needs to understand what it wants to achieve and what would lead to a truly lasting peace, not one that will last for a while and then only allow Putin to attack again.
