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WASHINGTON: When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, then-U.S. President Joe Biden took a firm stand in solidarity with Kyiv, forged a bulwark of European allies and set veteran advisers to the task of isolating Moscow economically and diplomatically.
Washington’s approach changed dramatically with Tuesday’s initial meeting between U.S. and Russian negotiators.
The officials met just a month after Donald Trump returned to the White House, with Ukraine and NATO partners sidelined by a relatively inexperienced team of Trump aides and Putin granted concessions even before the talks got under way.
Trump’s rush to impose an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine has stoked fears of a peace deal with Putin that could undermine Kyiv and Europe’s security and alter the geopolitical landscape.
“The really worrying fact is that Trump has taken Russia from pariah to prize partner in the time span of just a few days. That comes at a price,” said Brett Bruen, a former foreign policy adviser in the Obama administration.
The talks in Riyadh, the first time the U.S. and Russia have met to discuss the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, yielded agreement to form negotiating teams for future meetings and work to restore the normal functioning of each other’s diplomatic missions, reflecting a thawing of long-frozen relations.
Even before the talks, European politicians accused Trump of handing free concessions to Moscow last week by ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine and saying it was an illusion for Kyiv to believe it could win back the 20% of its territory now under Russian control. Some critics condemned Trump for what they said amounted to appeasement.
MAJOR PLAYERS EXCLUDED
Ukraine’s exclusion from Tuesday’s meeting marked a sharp departure from Biden and NATO’s mantra of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” Kyiv has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent.
And the absence of European representatives added to U.S. allies’ anxieties about whether Trump might be willing to give up too much for little from Putin.
That helped spur European governments to discuss the possibility of contributing peacekeepers to back any deal on Ukraine.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday he would not object to such a deployment, though Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not accept NATO troops there, signaling that Russia may resist any major compromise.–Reuters
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