MINSK, 25 August (BelTA) – Minsk is a highly promising venue for negotiations on the Ukrainian armed conflict for both Russians and Americans, Russian political scientist Malek Dudakov told Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
The political scientist emphasized that within the framework of negotiations on the Ukrainian armed conflict, US President Donald Trump is showing initiative and attempting to reach an agreement. “Of course, there are certain difficulties, and this must also be acknowledged, considering that, first of all, there are different points of view even within Trump's administration. There are, for example, hawks who would like to continue the confrontation with Russia, believing it is very profitable business for the USA. Plus, there is, of course, pressure from European hawks who continue to live in this paradigm of an endless war with Russia. As for future prospects, we see that the negotiation track is now intensifying; working groups are making contact on a wide variety of issues that currently serve as irritants in Russian-U.S. relations. There is hope that, perhaps in the medium term, we will be able to find some common ground. Yet, it must be acknowledged that the negotiating positions of Russia and the USA still diverge on certain issues, so it cannot be said that we have already reached a consensus. Nevertheless, we are observing a certain rapprochement,” Malek Dudakov said. He added that the Trump administration has begun to listen to Russia and take its positions into account, albeit not in everything.
Speaking about European countries and their participation in the negotiation process, the political scientist noted that, with the exception of a couple of nations, all of them demonstrate anti-Russian sentiments. “At the moment, all European capitals without exception, save for a few individual countries including Hungary and Slovakia, are taking a radically anti-Russian position. In the future, I think their agenda will be adjusted simply because different sentiments are already dominant overseas. They are genuinely trying to put sticks in the wheels of the negotiation process. European hawks are attempting to talk Trump down, hoping that this will allow them to buy some time. Then, Trump will get distracted by other issues - he has many other problems, including the domestic political situation, the need to approve all budgets in September, then relations and confrontation with China, and so on. In general, Trump will essentially let the Ukrainian track take its own course, and then the European hawks will ramp up their efforts and continue to wage war with Russia. This is, of course, a suicidal logic, but it is roughly what representatives of the European establishment are ultimately striving for,” Malek Dudakov said.
The political scientist also shared his view on whether Minsk could become a venue for peace negotiations on the Ukrainian issue. “Minsk is a very promising venue for holding potential future Russian-U.S. negotiations or Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, including, perhaps, at the highest level. For us, this venue is more than acceptable. Moreover, I think it is one of the possible options for the Trump administration as well, given, as we see, the very close contacts of the current U.S. president with the leadership of Belarus, with your president,” Malek Dudakov said. “However, the extent to which, for example, Ukrainian and European hawks would be prepared to see such a conference in Minsk is a separate question, because they, I think, will do everything to prevent it from being held on such a truly neutral platform as your country. I think for us and the USA it would be a very acceptable venue, but whether it will ultimately be possible to agree and hold it in Minsk is still an open question; time will tell. I think that gratitude really should be expressed to the president of Belarus for offering his capital as a possible venue to negotiate everything and arrange a de-escalation within the framework of the Ukrainian crisis.”
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