MOSCOW: The recent conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, suggests that two negotiatin...
MOSCOW: The recent conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, suggests that two negotiating camps have evolved, with the Russian-American one working toward peace in Ukraine and the other camp, led by Ukraine and Europe, is seeking to continue the conflict, Russian Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev argued.
"In the wake of the latest call between Putin and Trump, it seems that, finally but not irrevocably, two negotiating groups have formed - the Russian-American and the Ukrainian-European. While the former is discussing pathways toward achieving peace, the latter is looking at options to continue the war," the senior Russian senator wrote on his Telegram channel.
While forces in Europe are seeking to pull Trump into their camp which views Russia as an object of pressure, Kosachev continued, the US president is one of the first Western politicians to have acknowledged that Russia is an equal subject of international relations. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been transformed into a tool for pursuing someone else’s geopolitical goals, the Russian senator noted.
According to Kosachev, the recognition of each other as equal sovereigns and the perception of risks of global escalation can bring Russia and the United States closer together. "[We are moving] toward peace, not to continued war," he concluded.
The two leaders held a more than two-hour long phone call on Monday. They mostly discussed resolving the Ukraine conflict. Following the call, Putin said that he had first of all thanked Trump for the US support in resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. According to the Russian president, Moscow is ready to work with Kiev on a memorandum "addressing possible terms of a future peace agreement, including defining a number of positions." However, "eliminating the root causes of this crisis" would be key for Russia, he stressed.
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