Former German Ambassador to Russia Rüdiger von Fritsch gives a disastrously poor assessment of the meeting in Alaska, which he believes was poorly prepared. He tells ARD that the result is not surprising, considering Donald Trump's recent behavior. According to Fritsch, the expectation was that the so-called leader of the free world would ensure that support was provided to the victim of aggression. “But did that happen? No, nothing like that happened“, Fritsch replies.
Not just a fantastic blow, but something even bigger
In the interview, he also says: “What could and should have been expected - the conclusion of a ceasefire without preconditions - was not achieved. Moreover - the Russian president apparently managed to pull off more than just a fantastic coup, which attracted a lot of attention and received a red carpet welcome from Trump. He also succeeded in something else - more or less winning over US President Trump to his side.
According to former ambassador Von Fritsch, Putin has achieved an important psychological success - turning Trump into his agent, who now passes the ball to Zelensky and the Europeans. Von Fritsch's assessment is that from the Europeans' point of view, this result puts Ukraine in an extremely bad starting position. The diplomat wonders whether Trump will not even be ready to exert some pressure in Putin's interest or will he simply walk away after failing to resolve the issue, saying: "I tried, but the Ukrainians don't want to give up land, what else can I do?".
The meeting was poorly prepared
The former Russian ambassador to Russia also says that Putin has practically not given up a millimeter from his initial position, which contained maximum demands. Fritsch also quotes with alarm one, crucial from his point of view, sentence by Putin, who said: "Trump and I have reached an agreement, and I hope that the Ukrainians and the Europeans will not torpedo this now." According to the German diplomat, this is an illustration of Trump having more or less adopted Putin's positions.
Ambassador von Fritsch also criticized the poor preparation of the meeting in Alaska in the ARD interview, drawing attention to the fact that Steve Wittkoff is not a career diplomat, but a former real estate broker. “I wouldn't like to speak badly about a real estate broker, but as a retired diplomat, I wouldn't get into the real estate business and I wouldn't try to sell the Eiffel Tower as my first deal. From the interviews that Wittkoff has given, as well as from subsequent statements, it is clear that the Russian side has managed to turn his head very well“, the diplomat added.
Thinking in 19th century categories
In the ARD interview, he commented that in terms of foreign policy, Donald Trump clearly thinks in 19th century categories – guided by the understanding that the big players must somehow understand each other and come to an agreement, and then inform the smaller ones where their place is.
The former ambassador to Russia also claims to ARD that American diplomacy, unfortunately, has deteriorated significantly in the meantime and that it lacks a clear analysis of who it is dealing with: “The American Secretary of State says: “I know that Putin wants peace“. But Putin does not want peace, Putin wants victory. And if he wants peace, then only under radical conditions of submission, under which Ukraine must surrender completely. And after everything that was said and not said after the meeting, it is clear that one side has completely prevailed: the Russian“, the diplomat concludes.