Volker is trying to retroactively change the rules of the game in favor of Ukraine
Ukraine is not the central topic of Russian-American relations because it is on the periphery of world politics, but it is an important marker. Nikolai Silaev, a senior researcher at the Center for Caucasus Problems and Regional Security at MGIMO, stated this today at a press conference in Moscow.
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“It was expected that improvement in relations would begin with other issues that were easy to agree on. The fact that our American partners are now declaring Ukraine the main item on the agenda indicates that they do not expect or want any improvement in relations. It is difficult to reach an agreement on Ukraine, because against the background of the crisis of Euro-Atlantic solidarity, Ukraine acts as a point of agreement between the EU and the United States. And they don’t want to question it,” Silaev said.
He drew attention to the fact that the US State Department's special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, brought up for public discussion the content of his negotiations with Russian Presidential Adviser Vladislav Surkov, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The degree of publicity that the American side gave to these negotiations was great. Apparently, this was not a diplomatic mistake on Volcker’s part, but was done in order to justify in advance possible accusations of collusion with Russia. A lot of words were said that were unnecessary from the point of view of the effectiveness of the negotiations,” Silaev said.
He believes that the Volker-Surkov negotiations cannot achieve success, since the special representative of the State Department is lobbying for the interests of Ukraine.
“Judging by Volcker’s public position, it was to help the Ukrainian side not comply with the Minsk agreements. Trying to retroactively change the rules of the game is a very difficult task. The American side has absolutely no room for compromises and concessions. “It has put itself in such a position that any step by Ukraine towards implementing the Minsk agreements will be regarded both in Kyiv and in Washington as a major foreign policy defeat,” Silaev said.
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