On Friday, August 15, US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin held a summit in Alaska, during which they discussed ending the war in Ukraine. What consequences will this event have for our country and will it lead to the end of the war - Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, told UNN correspondent.
Trump and Putin did not reach an agreement
As we can see, there are no sanctions that Trump announced against Putin and Russia if the negotiations fail. This means they did not fail. There are no such sanctions, but there is also no lifting of sanctions from Russia. This means that no final agreement has been reached. We also see that Trump abandoned the idea of a truce in favor of the idea of a full-fledged peace. We also see that the future of the meeting between Zelensky and Putin is being decided.
The political scientist added that, in general, two main results of this meeting can be outlined. The first is that the US and Russia reached a partial agreement. On the other hand, they did not conclude any agreement bypassing Ukraine and Europe.
"There are two nomadic results from this meeting. The first is that Russia and the US clearly, partially, and fundamentally understood each other. But they could not conclude any agreement, because an agreement requires the presence of all parties at the table. And Ukraine and Europe were absent from the table. It would be inconvenient and toxic for Trump from the point of view of political reputation to conclude an agreement on Ukraine without Ukraine. But they partially understood each other," the expert noted.
Peace instead of truce
The second important aspect, Bortnik named the fact that Trump abandoned the idea of a truce and started talking about a full-fledged peace. At the same time, he now places more responsibility on Ukraine and Europe for the implementation of these intentions.
"Trump now places more responsibility on Zelensky, Ukraine, Europe for the further success or failure of the negotiations. He directly stated this in his interview with Fox News. It is no longer about negotiations about a truce, which Ukraine and European allies insisted on, but about negotiations about a full-fledged peace, which will involve geopolitical, long-term balances, which will involve the settlement of a number of strategic security issues. This will concern both Russia and Ukraine, starting with security guarantees and ending with the issue of the number of armed forces, territorial control, and everything else," Bortnik emphasized.
Trump defends his interests
Ruslan Bortnik also emphasized that Trump primarily pursues his national interests, but at this stage they coincide with the strategic interests of Ukraine.
"Trump defends his national interests. The pressure of Ukraine and Europe on Trump is palpable. It was precisely this that led to the fact that Putin and Trump could not conclude a formal agreement, but they agreed on many things. Trump is trying to stop the war, which has a negative trend for Ukraine. From this position, I believe, Trump's position coincides with the strategic interests of the Ukrainian state and people," Bortnik said.
Finally, the political scientist emphasized that the continuation of such a war in the absence of assistance from the United States, but only the sale of weapons, will lead to new catastrophes, to a potential deterioration of the military, political and socio-economic situation, as well as to even more difficult peace negotiations.