Bering Breakthrough: what Russia expects from the Alaska meeting
Russia hopes that the upcoming meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on August 15 in Alaska will give a new impetus to bilateral relations, which will help resolve a number of important issues, including the resumption of flights. This was stated to Izvestia by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. On August 11, the American president also allowed the normalization of trade relations between Russia and the United States. He also said that the meeting with Putin will be rather preliminary and one day there will be a summit of the heads of Russia and Ukraine. Kiev, according to Trump, will have to make some kind of land exchange. The experts interviewed by Izvestia agree: Territorial concessions from Ukraine are inevitable, and rejecting them will only worsen the situation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Against the background of preparations for the summit, the European Union held an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on August 11, saying that it was unacceptable to conclude a peace agreement on Ukraine without the participation of Kiev and Brussels.
The resumption of relations between Russia and the United States
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are planning a meeting in Alaska on August 15. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, in an interview with Izvestia, expressed hope that the upcoming summit would give a new impetus to the normalization of relations between Russia and the United States. According to him, this will make it possible to move forward in solving a number of important issues, including the resumption of flights.
— We hope that the upcoming summit will give an impetus to the normalization of bilateral relations, which will make it possible to move forward with the resolution of such issues (the restoration of air traffic. — Ed.)," Sergei Ryabkov told Izvestia. — Although it is clear that the leaders will focus on completely different topics.
View of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco after the decision of the US authorities to close it, September 1, 2017
At the same time, the diplomat acknowledged that progress on the issue of the return of Russian diplomatic property to the United States has not yet been observed. In 2017, as a result of anti-Russian sanctions, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco, the trade mission in Washington and its branch in New York were closed. In 2018, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation was closed in Seattle. In addition, Russian diplomats lost access to the Killenworth estate on Long Island near New York, as well as to a country complex in Maryland, 100 km from Washington. Some of the facilities were owned by the Russian Federation, while others were leased.
— No, unfortunately, there is no progress in this matter, — said Sergey Ryabkov.
Contacts between the United States and Russia have intensified significantly since Donald Trump came to power. Diplomats from both countries held a number of high-level meetings aimed at normalizing the work of embassies and overcoming the accumulated obstacles in bilateral relations. On February 27, in Istanbul, the Russian and American delegations discussed the functioning of their diplomatic missions. This meeting was a logical continuation of the negotiations on February 18 in Riyadh, where the foreign ministers agreed to step up efforts to eliminate problems in the work of diplomatic missions.
The car of the Russian delegation leaves the territory of the residence of the Consul General of the United States in Istanbul after the meeting of representatives of the Russian Federation and the United States, February 27
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that he was working to "eliminate irritants" that interfere with the normal functioning of embassies and diplomatic missions of both countries.
On July 10, he met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the ASEAN ministerial events in Kuala Lumpur. In early April, Kirill Dmitriev, the special representative of the Russian President for Investment and economic cooperation, visited the United States.
One of the positive developments was the appointment of Russian Ambassador Alexander Darchiev, who arrived in Washington in March this year and promised to deal with visa issues, the restoration of flights and diplomatic property.
On August 11, Trump allowed the possibility of normalizing trade relations between Russia and the United States. Earlier, Washington threatened to impose one hundred percent tariffs on all imports from Russia and secondary sanctions against countries that continue to purchase our oil and gas, but so far no measures have been introduced.
Possible territorial concessions
Nevertheless, it is the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine that remains one of the main stumbling blocks in relations between Moscow and Washington. In recent days, reports have appeared in the media about possible territorial agreements, with Western journalists citing sources familiar with the negotiations between Russia and the United States.
The Washington Post reports that Moscow has no plans to return the territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions to Ukraine, as they provide a strategic land corridor to Crimea. The Russian side allegedly offered Kiev to abandon the parts of the LPR and DPR under its control in exchange for a cease-fire, without offering any territorial compensation in return.
The Wall Street Journal writes that Russia is ready to declare a cease-fire with the unilateral withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donbass, while the withdrawal of the Russian Armed Forces from Kherson and Zaporizhia is not included in the negotiations.
Judging by the sharply negative reaction of Vladimir Zelensky, who stated that Ukraine would not give up its territories under any circumstances, it can be assumed that the outlines of the deal roughly coincide with those options that are currently being actively discussed in the media, that is, they assume a territorial exchange that is clearly unprofitable for Kiev.
Trump, commenting on this, said that, according to polls, 88% of Ukrainians support the conclusion of a peace agreement with Russia. At the same time, he expressed dissatisfaction with Zelensky's words about the need for constitutional approval on territorial issues.
"So he has approval to start a conflict and kill everyone, but not yet approval to exchange territories," he said at a press conference.
The refusal of the head of Ukraine to transfer territories for the sake of peace is unreasonable, Peter Kuznik, director of the Institute for Nuclear Research at the American University in Washington, Professor of history, tells Izvestia.
— There is no chance to return Donbass or defeat the Russians. The longer the fighting continues, the weaker Ukraine's position and the more territories the Russian Federation will control. This is the maximum Zelensky can achieve. And the recognition that Ukraine will not join NATO is an obvious step," the professor stressed.
At the same time, the leaders of the EU states continue to declare their position. "The West, including European countries, will not accept Russian conditions that would simply consist in the occupation of Ukrainian territory," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on August 11. He added that the United States promised to hold consultations with the EU before the meeting between Trump and Putin. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the heads of the European Union countries expect to discuss key settlement issues with the American president two days before his talks with the Russian leader.
If the Western media reports are confirmed, dozens of cities may be under Russian control: Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka, Konstantinovka, Pokrovsk, Mirnograd, Rodinskoe, Dobropolye, Liman and Seversk. Little is known about other aspects of the potential deal — Ukraine's neutral status, NATO membership, the domestic political situation, the lifting of sanctions against Russia, and the format of the peace agreement itself.
Emergency EU Summit on Ukraine
On August 11, an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers was held, convened by the head of European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas. The countries of the association advocate that any agreement between the United States and Russia must necessarily include Kiev and the European Union. She sees the settlement of this crisis in a peculiar way. "Transatlantic unity, support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia — this is how we will end this war," Kallas said after consultations with the foreign ministers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump's Special envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff (right) during a meeting on August 6.
At the same time, The New York Times reported: European representatives at a meeting with the US and Ukrainian delegations tried to find out the details of the conversation that took place on August 6 between Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. According to the newspaper, "the Europeans are concerned that the presidents of Russia and the United States will come to an agreement on their own, which they will then try to impose on Kiev. They are trying to convince Trump that Ukraine should be at the negotiating table."
According to Peter Kuznik, the pressure of European leaders on Donald Trump will continue.
— The Europeans from the "coalition of the willing", who are ready to fight to the last Ukrainian, do not want a peaceful solution, but seek to weaken and punish Russia. It's dangerous and sad," he said.
However, the United States does not believe that contacts between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky before the Russia–US summit will be productive, said US Vice President Jay Dee Vance. At the same time, Trump said that his meeting with Putin in Alaska would be rather preliminary, and after that he expects bilateral talks between the Russian leader and the president of Ukraine or a trilateral summit with the latter's participation.
According to Polish political analyst Mateusz Piskorski, Moscow and Washington can reach an agreement without the EU and Ukraine.
"The conflict was provoked by the US administration, and it is she who can end it," says Piskorsky.
US President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner with Republicans in the US Congress in the East Room of the White House in Washington, July 22.
In his opinion, due to economic problems, the EU has lost influence, especially from Trump's point of view. "The only threat is American hawks, especially in the Republican ranks," he added.
Piskorski recalled that Kiev's refusal to compromise in the past led to tougher conditions: in 2022, the Istanbul Agreements were disrupted on the instructions of Great Britain. If there is no compromise, the subsequent proposals will be worse, given the offensive of Russian troops in Donbass.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
