At the press conference in Riyadh at the conclusion of their four and a half hour talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and with Presidential Foreign Policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff spoke very well. They were very diplomatic, very much in control of the discourse with aggressive, unfriendly journalists from the press. They showed themselves to be loyal, shall we say deferential to the President whose will they were carrying out. They also appeared to be fully up to the task.
From what the American negotiators said and to what Lavrov added in his own remarks to Russian journalists when the talks were over, we understand that the first issue that they addressed was to restore normal staffing and operating procedures at the respective diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow which had been cut to nearly zero under the Biden administration. This begins with the appointment and confirmation of ambassadors on each side. This is a precondition for successful work to prepare a summit of the national leaders that will address the many separate issues of common interest including peace in Ukraine.
The isolation of Russia, the arms’ distance approach of dealing with a pariah state: that is all finished, kaput.
Evidently the repair work on state-to-state relations will proceed in parallel and not be held up by talks on ending the war, which is now acknowledged as something that will take some time. The U.S. side recognizes that a permanent and broad relationship with Russia is essential to deal with global issues of interest to both nations.
This will bring the relationship to the third phase of talks: about ‘geopolitical’ issues. Here we may expect the U.S. to try to drive a wedge between Russia and China, and to try to agree on what role BRICS will have in the coming multipolar world while not fundamentally threatening U.S. interests.
The cherry on the cake was the press conference later yesterday that Donald Trump held at Mar a Lago. In answer to reporters’ questions on why Zelensky was excluded from the talks, he said that Zelensky had been at the table for three years, with no positive results. As even today’s Financial Times recognizes in its article on the press conference, Trump was wholly dismissive of Zelensky and clearly wants to see him gone, removed by elections that the U.S. wants to be held within the context of the coming peace settlement. Trump remarked that Zelensky’s popularity rating in Ukraine has fallen to 4%. Compare that to the 52% support which the FT mentions with reference to polls by a sociological institute in Kiev.
The negotiating methods that Trump used from inauguration day to present are a perfect example of the alternating feint to the right, feint to the left methods that Mikhail Gorbachev used from early in his presidency to keep his fellow members of the collective Soviet leadership submissive. This is what the panelists in Solovyov’s show understood from their close experience with this at home.
It is high time for Americans and Europeans now to appreciate these consummate political skills within Team Trump, and to wish him well.
Those in the alternative media, just like those in mainstream who try to kick the tires, saying that Trump is motivated by narrow financial interests or other personal considerations that come from his vanity are being small-minded and are intentionally missing the big picture.
Gilbert Doctorow
Russians comparing Trump to Gorbachev who oversaw a decline in the Soviet Union. Warsaw Pact Europe was a huge albatross around the Soviet Union with their demands for subsidized energy and trade. The US seems to be looking to force the EU to stand on its own while recognizing their economies are in relative decline to the rest of the world. |
