Donald Trump and Western countries are making a fundamental mistake in their attitude towards Vladimir Putin – they believe that they can negotiate with him. This was stated to OBOZ.ua by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Volodymyr Ogryzko.
The Ukrainian diplomat said that Putin has not had and will not have a desire for real negotiations. Unless he suffers a complete collapse on the front – but then he will invoke the “threat to the existence of the Russian state“ and will shower the West with nuclear threats.
“In my opinion, this (negotiations with Putin) is one of the grossest mistakes we can imagine. Because there is such a fundamental principle of international law - the principle of good faith. This means that the parties negotiate with a real desire to achieve a result. But have you ever seen good faith in Russia's actions? The Russians are masters of dragging out the process for years, of imitating negotiations without agreeing on anything“, said Ogryzko.
The Russians always have a prepared scenario up their sleeve if their army suffers a collapse at the front: the threat to the existence of the Russian state, the diplomat said. According to him, the result of all this will be a transition to nuclear rhetoric. And this will not only be at the level of a half-drunk Medvedev or Zakharova. Putin himself will come out and say that “this option is being considered because the circumstances threaten Russian statehood itself“. And blackmail will begin.
According to Ogryzko, Putin allows himself to make nuclear threats to Western countries because he believes that fear will deter them from providing decisive support for Kiev to win the war. “Do you remember, there was a moment when French President Macron replied: “Why are you scaring us? We also have nuclear weapons.“ And then all this rhetoric disappeared for a while from Russian propaganda channels. This is what needs to be repeated“, said Ogryzko, indicating that the West should remind Putin that it also has a nuclear arsenal.
The Ukrainian diplomat also commented on Trump's “ultimatum” to Putin for 50 days. The American president practically gave Putin more time and did not take firm measures against the aggressor. “Trump does not want a complete defeat of Russia. This is visible to the naked eye. He still lives in the illusion of some future partnership, someday, somewhere, with someone in the Kremlin. Without understanding that there can be no partnership with Russia“, said Ogryzko.
“The only serious factor that can really influence the United States today is enriched uranium. Because the United States itself does not produce it in the necessary volumes. They buy it from Russia. I do not exclude that the Russian “proposals“ included something like: they say, if you impose these draconian sanctions on us, we will stop supplying you with uranium“, he added.
The United States is already sending weapons to Ukraine, President Donald Trump said in the meantime. Trump was referring to the American “Patriot” anti-aircraft missile systems, which will be paid for by European NATO allies, according to a scheme he himself announced on Monday. He also gave Russia 50 days to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine, threatening sanctions if it did not. Trump said he had not spoken to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, since announcing the arms deliveries.