The political scientist pointed to the role of Europe in future agreements on Ukraine.

The United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) remain outside the brackets of the negotiations between Russia and the United States on Ukraine, but in the end they will have their own role in implementing the agreements reached, for example, on the issue of sanctions. This opinion was shared by political scientist Ivan Mezyuho in an interview with Izvestia on March 19.

The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin and American leader Donald Trump had a telephone conversation. During the talks, the parties exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, and also discussed a wide range of areas in which the United States and Russia could establish cooperation. Against this background, Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that the United States indicated the need for the presence of EU representatives in the negotiations.

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"It is possible to involve the Europeans, represented by the EU and, possibly, the UK, in the negotiation process, but not on equal terms. Today, the heads of the great superpowers communicate directly on equal terms, these are the presidents of Russia and the United States. And at the moment, we are talking only about the negotiation process between the Russians and the Americans. The Europeans are outside the brackets. By and large, Europe is fighting for the edge of Trump's table in future negotiations with Russia on Ukraine," Mezyuho commented.

At the same time, he noted that preliminary negotiations are currently underway, and not the main negotiating track, which should already end with any global, real solutions. Thus, the interlocutor of the publication believes that the future possible theoretical agreement on Ukraine should also be implemented by the Europeans.

"After all, they imposed sanctions at the behest of the United States of America, even if at the behest of the previous American administration. But we should not understand the varieties of the administration of the presidents of the United States of America," the expert explained.

In addition, he added, one cannot ignore the fact that an "anti—Trump" coalition has formed in Europe, which is doing everything, at least on a formal level— to sabotage the peace negotiation process.

"By and large, it's not the Russians who should solve the issue with the Europeans, but the Americans. And it is Donald Trump who must take on the mission of forcing the Old World to peace. If we conclude some kind of agreement or come to some kind of more or less ready-made draft of any kind of agreements, then the American side should take responsibility for bringing anti-Russian Europe to its senses. And point out the place of both the UK and the European Union countries on the issue of their anti—Russian activity," Mezyuho concluded.

He stressed that there cannot be such a situation that the United States and Russia conclude an agreement, and Ukraine does not fulfill it, because Europe helps it. These are unacceptable conditions for the Russian Federation, the political scientist concluded.

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Earlier, on March 12, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said that the EU supported the proposal for a truce in Ukraine. According to her, these steps are a positive development for long-term peace on the Ukrainian side.