The actions of the Administration of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Russia and the settlement of its war against Ukraine create the impression of excessive compliance and the lack of a clear strategy in restraining the Kremlin.
This opinion was stated in Ukrinform’s comment by retired Austrian military expert Brigadier General of the Bundeswehr, Gerald Karner.
“The Trump Administration’s actions, particularly Putin’s visit to Alaska, are often difficult to understand. One gets the impression that it is acting too weakly or impractically in relation to Russia. Whether this happens intentionally or through naivety is unclear,” Karner said.
In his opinion, the diplomatic initiatives of the new U.S. Administration have not led to tangible progress on the issue of ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the only result so far is the return of war criminal Putin to the world arena.
“Nothing has actually been achieved in the last eight or nine months, except that Putin has been bought time; Putin, a wanted war criminal, has been returned to the world stage again”, the expert said.
Karner suggested that after diplomatic success in the Middle East, Trump may try to achieve a similar result in Russia’s war against Ukraine, but the expert takes a skeptical position regarding real changes.
Trump, in euphoria after success in the Middle East, could try to do something similar between Ukraine and Russia, but I don’t see any concrete changes. Russia would react to the pressure, but in the long term, it continued to act as before”, he said.
Commenting on the recent meeting of Ukrainian and U.S. Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in Washington, as well as Trump’s announced plans for a meeting with Putin in Budapest, the expert emphasized that the policy of the current American administration looks contradictory.
“At this meeting, the variability and ignorance of the current American administration were especially evident. The aggressor and the defender are actually put on the same level, historical, political, and legal principles are ignored, and issues of the highest strategic importance are considered as an ordinary real estate deal”, Karner noted.
He emphasized that Europe should develop its own strategies independent of the USA, in particular in the matter of supporting Ukraine.
“Europe, at least now, for reasons of self-respect, should not constantly look back at what the Trump Administration is doing, but should develop and implement its own strategies in the European interest”, the expert concluded.
As Ukrinform reported, on October 16, Trump held a telephone conversation with Putin, after which he announced that he would meet with the head of the Kremlin in Budapest to discuss the possibility of ending this inglorious war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Budapest is not the best platform for negotiations between the leaders of the USA, Russia, and Ukraine, but emphasized that he is ready to meet in any country for the sake of peace.
On October 21, CNN, citing its sources, reported that Trump’s meeting with Putin may be postponed.
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsya reminded that if the meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump with Putin took place on October 23 in Budapest, it would mark the anniversary of the invasion of Soviet troops during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Ukrinform photos can be purchased here.