Yermak's advisor on Trump-Putin talks: I don't think geostrategic decisions will be made in Alaska
Kyiv • UNN
Serhiy Leshchenko, advisor to the Head of the President's Office, stated that the meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska would be symbolic. He emphasized that geostrategic decisions would not be made there.
It is unlikely that geostrategic decisions for decades to come will be made in Alaska during the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. There will likely be more juggling of symbols than any result, so there are still many such rounds of negotiations ahead.
This opinion was expressed by Serhiy Leshchenko, advisor to the Head of the President's Office, on the air of the telethon, as reported by UNN.
The main thing is to remain calm and understand that this can actually last a very long time. It seems to us that everything will be decided in Alaska, but in reality, no one knows what will happen in Alaska. We are now trying more to see the essence, but here, in fact, there will be more form, it seems to me. Here, it seems to me, there will be more juggling of symbols than we will see any result at the end, so there are still many such rounds of negotiations ahead, the main thing is to maintain moral harmony
Leshchenko emphasized that it is not yet known who else will be present in Alaska.
By and large, we don't know if there will be a summit in Alaska... I don't think that geostrategic decisions for decades to come will be made in Alaska. It will be more of a symbolic event, I think, but we don't know yet who else will be there, in what format the meetings will be. We saw all weekend the activity of our President, who called half of the leaders of NATO countries, plus our partners, the Azerbaijani leader, spoke with the leader of Kazakhstan, for example. This also doesn't just happen
He believes that the format of the final meetings in Alaska can be very different. "We must be aware that this is a long game and we need to save our breath in this marathon, and not spend everything on the first hundred meters," Leshchenko emphasized.
Leshchenko on different interpretations in the media of Trump's and Putin's negotiations Leshchenko stated that he sees a positive in the interview of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he said that Donald Trump, during the meeting in Alaska, would "test" Vladimir Putin's readiness to end the war in Ukraine.
I see a positive in the interview of NATO Secretary General Rutte. Firstly, because he heads the Alliance, where America plays a key role, and of course, his messages cannot contradict the country that created NATO. I am convinced that his statements correspond to the American view of the situation. This is not a direct sign. The direct sign is that Rutte and Trump have excellent relations since Rutte headed the government of the Netherlands for more than 10 years. Now they continue close communication, and his message would certainly not have gone public if it did not correspond to the vision of the American administration
Therefore, according to Leshchenko, we are now witnessing a very interesting process, when many different headquarters, parties, and sides of this big game immediately fill the information space with various messages.
What Trump said was as broad as possible and created the widest possible space for interpretations. We could, by the tone, by the answers to the questions, and the questions already contained certain narratives, draw conclusions that some might not like very much. For us, it is important that, in essence, very little of the specific things that could have negative consequences for us were said by him
Leshchenko notes that Trump leaves room for maneuver.
Then we saw publications in the American press, which are also clearly agreed with the administration, but no longer on his (Trump's - ed.) behalf. This means that he leaves room for maneuver and he does not want to be the author of these messages, he gives journalists the right to be the authors about the fact that there should be an exchange of territories, that the Donetsk region should be given away, etc. He did not say this, the press said it and it played the role of an additional source of information, but then we see statements from very different participants in this process - from Kit Kellogg's daughter to the NATO Secretary General
Leshchenko noted that Trump always provides an opportunity, by creating a very broad framework, for many parties to say a lot of different text, and then, by analyzing the reaction, how topics enter the media space, enter the political circles of those countries that are NATO allies, how America's opponent countries react, accordingly, to make certain decisions, correcting them.
Nothing is decided yet, nothing is decided yet... Therefore, I would advise keeping a cool head in this situation
Ukraine's involvement in the negotiations When asked about Ukraine's level of involvement in these negotiations, Leshchenko replied:
We had a very big meeting that took place in London over the weekend. Head of the President's Office Yermak and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Umerov, and from the American side, Vice President J.D. Vance, who even made a post on his social networks, and he is a selective person in this sense, and he made a post about it
Leshchenko believes that everyone in Washington, London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, and Kyiv understands who stands on the first line of Putin's alliance with China – Ukraine.
Ukraine is the first to meet them, and of course, Ukraine's ability to defend itself must be guaranteed
According to him, the Russians want to legitimize the recognition of Crimea, they want to legitimize the recognition of Donbas, to legitimize all three regions that they included in their constitution.
As they wrote it in, so they should write it out, who should care about that. They are not interested in our constitutional realities, we are not interested in their constitutional realities
Context
A meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska is scheduled for August 15. CNN reported that on Saturday, a diplomatic clash unfolded after Donald Trump announced that he would meet with Vladimir Putin on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may also be present during this meeting.
Against the backdrop of news in the media about a supposed exchange of territories, Zelenskyy stated that the Russians' desire to dispose of Ukrainian territories would remain just a desire.
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham believes that the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war will involve an exchange of territories.