‘Even Trump Administration Has Doubts’
6- 19.03.2025, 19:25
- 31,996
The diplomat spoke about the main results of the negotiations between the US President and Putin.
US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Putin held a telephone conversation.
What are the main results of the negotiations? The Charter97.org website spoke about this with the director of the Center for National Resilience Studies in Kyiv, former adviser to the Ukrainian embassy in Canada and Kenya, Oleh Bilokolos:
— Russia is making its usual claims, there are reports about some Russian “legitimate interests.” Frankly speaking, based on the results of this conversation, I did not see any desire on the part of the Kremlin to seriously stop its aggression and end the war.
In addition, there is an obvious desire to draw the United States into a discussion of, as diplomats often say, “a wide range of issues”. Perhaps, in the process of this process, the Russians will try to get some bonuses for themselves: unblock frozen financial resources, ease sanctions, resume the work of closed diplomatic institutions, and so on.
— Can we say that Putin has refused a 30-day ceasefire?
— It is not entirely clear here yet, and the term “ceasefire” itself sounds in a very general sense. Where, who and how exactly is it being ceased? The American position is about a complete ceasefire, which is also being discussed by representatives of Ukraine. In the Russian version, it seems that they are not against it, but I did not see any clear agreement there.
But here we need to look at what kind of ceasefire is being discussed in general. Traditionally, this means a complete cessation of hostilities — not a single shot. So far, I have not seen any specifics in the published statements, these are all still quite general things. There is no clear agreement on specific conditions.
— We have seen that Trump has an instrument of pressure on Ukraine. But does he have instruments of pressure on Putin? Or is there no desire to use them?
— The United States has many instruments of influence on Russia. The first is, first of all, an increase in arms supplies to Ukraine by an order of magnitude. The second is further tightening of sanctions, especially in the energy sector, including the so-called “gray tanker fleet”.
Obviously, advisers can offer Trump a wide range of pressure measures. The sanctions that are already in place were not introduced in full — they played their role, but there is room for maneuver, as the Americans like to say, “room for improvement”. There are definitely opportunities, I am sure of it.
— How can events develop further?
— In each such difficult process, there are many nuances. Firstly, I notice that the confidence of the American administration that “we will quickly solve everything in one fell swoop” is beginning to weaken, if not disappear. Doubts have appeared.
Secondly, this process is extremely complex, with many nuances. The devil is in the details. How sincere is Russia ready to seriously talk about something? I have serious doubts about the mentions in the Kremlin's messages of “Russia's legitimate interests”. We have been hearing this since the end of 2021, but for some reason we have not heard about the legitimate security interests of Ukraine and its people.
Frankly speaking, I am skeptical about the sincerity of the desire to end the war and stop aggression on the part of Russia. It seems that some gestures are being made only to draw the American side into the negotiation process. But there is no serious readiness to stop aggression against Ukraine. This is evident from almost every paragraph of official reports.
However, the agreement to continue some consultations remains. Perhaps, there is still a minimal chance for a positive development of events.
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