— We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It didn't seem right to me. I didn't feel like we were going to get where we needed to be. So I canceled it. But we will do it in the future, US President Donald Trump told reporters.
Moments earlier, Washington announced the imposition of new sanctions on Russia.
The US president canceled the summit with Putin. “Trump is a type of naive Russophile”
— It should have been assumed that this would be the case because the White House administration had been on a credulous course towards Russia for a long time. It looked very bad – says prof. in an interview with Onet. Roman Kuźniar, head of the Department of Strategic Studies and International Security at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw.
In his opinion, what turned out to be decisive and changed the course was the conversation between the two secretaries of state.
— That is, Putin's personal Ribbentrop, Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio. This conversation showed the Americans very clearly that the Russians mock them, disrespect them and that it simply serves no purpose. Trump himself said that it was a waste of time for another meeting that would bring nothing, the expert notes.
It also recalls the February conversation between Trump and Putin, which the US president boasted about as “great.”
We listened to this with horror. What nonsense is the president of the United States talking about. This proves his great gullibility, naivety and blindness. And suddenly they sobered up. I laugh and often repeat that Russians can cure any Russophile. God forbid that they would also cure Trump, because he is such a naive Russophile. Even if he has now decided to impose sanctions against the largest oil giants, I think that deep down he is still a Russophile. Perhaps he came to the conclusion that enough of this humiliation, that: “this time, Volodya, you went too far. I have to hold you somehow.”
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What caused the change in the US course towards Russia?
What sanctions were imposed on Russia?
Why did Trump cancel his meeting with Putin?
What are the opinions of prof. Kuźniar on contacts with Russia?
Donald Trump canceled the summit with Vladimir Putin. “You shouldn't meet with bandits”
Our interlocutor immediately states that Donald Trump may change his decisions overnight.
— Tomorrow he may announce that he is going to Budapest after all. But it is certainly worth noting that for the first time during his second term, he behaved in a different way than before towards Russia and Putin. This is a public admission by the US president that he was wrong. However, something occurred to him, he notes.
Prof. Kuźniar does not hide his unequivocal attitude towards the idea of meetings with Vladimir Putin.
– This is a bad idea. You are not allowed to meet with bandits. They have to make a decision there in Moscow. And you can meet at a low level and discuss technical details. Only when these most important documents are signed can we meet on neutral ground, he believes.
— Who ever saw the president of the democratic United States being caught by a thug from Moscow? It is an incomprehensible story that Putin calls as if he were a friend and they meet in Alaska. No meetings with Putin until he is ready to sign our terms. I understand that Trump is a celebrity and cares about meetings in front of cameras, but with this bandit from Moscow it's a completely unnecessary celebrity. Unfortunately, Trump simply loves celebrities because he is a narcissist, but now it is completely unnecessary, he adds.
Donald TrumpPAP/EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL
“The idea is to make the Russians squeal in pain”
The head of the Department of Strategic Studies and International Security at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw also says whether the US should transfer Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
— It may have seemed that Trump changed his mind after the conversation with Putin, but it is not certain that he actually wanted to convey it. Immediately after that, he suddenly announced that he would not send them, because America needed them itself. No, the truth is that the US does not need them because it is not involved in any conflict. However, from the beginning I believed that this was unlikely, because it would require on-site assistance from American personnel. In turn, training of Ukrainian crews would take up to six months, which is too long, he says.
He emphasizes that the transfer of this type of weapon would be legal and even consistent with the United Nations Charter if American teams appeared on Ukrainian soil to operate the Tomahawks.
However, I believe that Americans will not go for it. However, there are a number of other types of weapons or support with which America and the entire West are able to strangle Russia. Because what's really going on here is to make the Russians scream in pain and hit the mat with their hand twice to agree to an immediate truce. Regardless of the Tomahawks, but Ukraine must be supported in such a way as to put pressure on Russia and force it to an immediate truce and then to implement further elements of the security plan for Ukraine
– says prof. Forgeman.
The US is striking Russia significantly. Expert: America did not want these sanctions
In his opinion, “there must be solid, real security guarantees for Ukraine. Ensuring its development and contacts with the West and the European Union.”
There is no need to fetishize NATO membership. There are other ways to guarantee Ukraine's security. Plus, of course, the necessary deployment of peacekeeping forces. All this can take place on the basis of a UN Security Council resolution. Sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil are very important, although, as I said, the European ones are more important, i.e. an end to the import of Russian fossil and energy raw materials, as well as hydrocarbons. And this is much more important. This, of course, was more difficult for Europe, which had been dependent on Russia for years. America did not want these sanctions because it did not want to harm Russia
– he adds.
Asked whether it is not a coincidence that so far Russia has been setting conditions for the West to end the war in Ukraine, the expert replies that Putin is trying to impose them, but “however, they did not get much from us.” — Their conditions are unacceptable. They say that we need to solve the roots of the problem. But the source of the problem is not Ukraine, he says.
— The source of the problem is Russia. First of all, Russia should be denazified and demilitarized, because this is the only source of the problem. It is Russia that poses a threat to the world, not Ukraine. Today, Russia is racing in a place along the Dnieper and they need to be stopped there, says Prof. Forgeman.
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