Political analyst says US unwillingness to bear the burden of the Ukrainian conflict on itself

US President Donald Trump does not want the country to bear the burden of the Ukrainian crisis and hopes for trusting relations with Russia. German political scientist Christoph Hörstel told Izvestia on February 18.

The talks between high-level delegations of the Russian Federation and the United States ended in Riyadh. Moscow was represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, Washington by National Security Assistant to the President Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steven Whitkoff.

"The U.S., specifically Trump and the ministers, have said very strongly that they don't want to carry the entire burden on themselves: the financial burden, the burden of supplying weapons in this war against Russia. They want a good relationship with Russia, a relationship of trust, and that means they want to end the war," Hurstel said.

For Moscow, according to the political analyst, it is important to ensure that Ukraine does not join NATO, that there are no foreign troops and nationalist formations on its territory, as well as to get guarantees that the rights of Russian minorities will be respected and that the new territories will be recognized as part of Russia.

The United States, in turn, is ready to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, stop supplying arms, not send Western troops and cede some territories to Russia, Hurstel noted. However, he continued, Washington's guarantees will be needed for the talks to succeed.

"We have seen how all kinds of contracts concluded by Russia with Western countries are violated by the West in the first place," the expert noted.

According to the political scientist, the only way to make the West start being honest with Russia is to set tough conditions.

"So it is quite obvious for Russia that it needs to remain strong in order to give confidence to its own negotiating position," Hurstel concluded.

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