Latest news with #RussiaRelations
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump has abandoned his own peace plan
First a caveat: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were on the phone for two hours. Even allowing for the delay caused by translation between English and Russian, that is a lengthy call. And we do not know what else was said beyond the statements put out by the Kremlin and the White House. Nonetheless, the respective readouts are revealing. Mr Trump's focus on trade illustrates two things. First, he still does not seem to understand what Putin calls 'the root causes of the conflict' – or does not care about them. The Russian leader is driven by the goal of righting 'Lenin's mistake' of allowing Ukraine to exist, of addressing what he considers a fundamental challenge to Russia's existence as a great power, of restoring the old empire and Russia's place as one of the leading poles of power on the planet. Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine are driven by self-preservation. There remains an enormous gulf between those positions. Neither is the sort of thing you abandon on the offer of a trade deal. But Mr Trump's objective has always seemed to be less about peace in Ukraine, than normalising America's ties with Russia. Read with that in mind, his enthusiasm about the 'UNLIMITED' potential of 'TRADE' with Russia once peace comes makes more sense. That is consistent with much of his previous rhetoric, so it should be taken seriously. It suggests Mr Trump is impatient to ditch wartime sanctions on Russia sooner rather than later. That in turn implies the White House will push for a quick deal rather than a good deal, and that Russia will be able to rebuild its economic and thus military power more quickly than previously thought. Bad news for Ukraine and Europe. There is little here to suggest peace really is imminent, however. For while Putin agreed with Mr Trump that 'we are generally on the right track' for peace, he makes clear there are several stations to go through to get there. He spoke after the call not of imminent peace, but 'a memorandum on a possible future peace accord' including 'the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement'. And of course, he said 'the main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis'. Talks have resumed. The two sides met in Istanbul last week for the first time since 2022. But they could go on for a very long time. In the meantime, the fighting will continue, and troops on the ground will use force to make the diplomatic delegations 'take into account new realities' – another bit of Russian diplomatese, best translated as might makes right. Maybe the war will end this year. But don't hold your breath.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Slovak PM derides EU attempts to keep him from Moscow war commemorations
(Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday his country wanted to develop relations with Russia, and he derided European Union detractors who created obstacles to his attendance at World War Two commemorations in Moscow. Fico broke ranks with the EU by visiting Moscow late last year, more than two years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin late on Friday evening following the Red Square parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. China's Xi Jinping was among several dozen leaders at the commemorations, but nearly all Western leaders stayed away. Fico arrived after a circuitous journey made necessary by EU members' barring his aircraft from their airspace. "As a head of government, I want to assure you that it is in my interest to have pragmatic relations with the Russian Federation," Russian news agencies quoted Fico as telling Putin. He said he opposed the creation of any new "iron curtain and pledge to do everything so that we can shake hands across a curtain". "Let us consider as a childish joke all the technical problems we confronted, created by our European Union colleagues." Putin said Russia appreciated Fico's decision to attend despite the "logistical obstacles that were created. But you are nonetheless here." Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, had criticised Fico's attendance at the Moscow ceremonies. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said attending the victory parade and "applauding President shame to everyone who is there." In a response to Kallas' comments on Facebook, Fico said he was paying tribute to Soviet Red Army soldiers who had liberated Slovakia in the war. Kallas had no right to criticise him, Fico said, as it was normal to hold a dialogue with other leaders. Fico also told Putin he was prepared to use a national veto to oppose plans by the 27-nation EU to phase out Russian energy purchases. Slovakia and Hungary had earlier voiced opposition to the plan. Fico described the proposal as "simply economic suicide".
Reuters
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Slovak PM derides EU attempts to keep him from Moscow war commemorations
May 10 (Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday his country wanted to develop relations with Russia, and he derided European Union detractors who created obstacles to his attendance at World War Two commemorations in Moscow. Fico broke ranks with the EU by visiting Moscow late last year, more than two years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin late on Friday evening following the Red Square parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. China's Xi Jinping was among several dozen leaders at the commemorations, but nearly all Western leaders stayed away. Fico arrived after a circuitous journey made necessary by EU members' barring his aircraft from their airspace. "As a head of government, I want to assure you that it is in my interest to have pragmatic relations with the Russian Federation," Russian news agencies quoted Fico as telling Putin. He said he opposed the creation of any new "iron curtain and pledge to do everything so that we can shake hands across a curtain". "Let us consider as a childish joke all the technical problems we confronted, created by our European Union colleagues." Putin said Russia appreciated Fico's decision to attend despite the "logistical obstacles that were created. But you are nonetheless here." Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, had criticised Fico's attendance at the Moscow ceremonies. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said attending the victory parade and "applauding President shame to everyone who is there." In a response to Kallas' comments on Facebook, Fico said he was paying tribute to Soviet Red Army soldiers who had liberated Slovakia in the war. Kallas had no right to criticise him, Fico said, as it was normal to hold a dialogue with other leaders. Fico also told Putin he was prepared to use a national veto to oppose plans by the 27-nation EU to phase out Russian energy purchases. Slovakia and Hungary had earlier voiced opposition to the plan. Fico described the proposal as "simply economic suicide".
