Russia in Global Affairs

Friends and business associates may establish contacts and discover areas in which compromise is conceivable, but they don’t themselves make peace. The shuttle diplomacy may eventually serve as a catalyst for serious negotiations, however, if that moment comes, the settlement will have to be negotiated by officials and institutions possessing state legitimacy and the power to implement what they sign.

Russia’s mistake before Anchorage was to imagine Trump as an external force capable of fundamentally changing the situation, but he didn’t play that role, nor could he have done so. During the year since Alaska, the Russian-Western European military confrontation has acquired a clearer direction. Russia must seek a way to end the present war and prevent the next one, without waiting for magical solutions.

Russia’s main diplomatic achievement in the past year is that Trump has dropped his demand for a ceasefire. Now the peace process is proceeding as it should, in parallel with the fighting. The conditions for the start of peace talks were secured on the battlefield, and this is where the prerequisites for their successful conclusion and for lasting peace must also be created.

NATO arrogance created this war, and it could kill any peace.

The US president sees Ukraine as a failing asset, not an ally.