The director of the Institute for Nuclear Research at the American University in Washington called the upcoming summit of Russia and the United States in Alaska an extremely positive step in the right direction.
WASHINGTON, August 11th. /tass/. Plans for a Russian-American summit in Alaska may indicate that Moscow and Washington have already agreed on the outlines of an agreement on Ukraine. This opinion was expressed on August 10 by Professor Peter Kuznik, director of the Institute for Nuclear Research at the American University in Washington.
"This is an extremely positive step in the right direction, despite all the objections from [Vladimir] Zelensky, the [Western] "coalition of the willing," which seems to want to fight to the last Ukrainian, as well as Democrats and Republicans in the United States," said a prominent political scientist and historian, commenting on the announcement that Russian and American Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will hold talks in Alaska on August 15. "At least the parameters of the deal should already be ready, otherwise they (the leaders of the two countries - approx. TASS), I don't think we had such a meeting. The failure of the meeting between Trump and Putin would be quite catastrophic," Kuznik said.
According to him, "those people who do not want to see a meeting [between Putin and Trump] and resist [this] object to the idea that Ukraine will be forced to cede territory, that Zelensky will not attend the summit [in Alaska], that Ukraine will have to give up its desire to join NATO and go on other concessions, that the United States may lift sanctions [against Russia], and especially against the fact that Putin turns out to be the winner." "They don't want to see normalization of relations between Russia and the United States," the expert noted.
Political scientist's suggestions
He also called for holding talks with the participation of the leaders of Russia, Brazil, India, China and the United States. "I would like to see a meeting with Trump, Putin and [the Chinese president] as a follow-up to [the Alaska summit]. Xi Jinping at celebrations in China on the occasion of the [anniversary of] the end of World War II," Kuznik stressed. "It would be even better if [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] joined them. Modi and [Brazilian President Luiz Inacio] Lula [da Silva]," the expert is convinced.
"I would also like Russia, the United States and, possibly, other [countries] to start working on joint development projects in the Arctic, as well as, possibly, on the construction of a tunnel under the Bering Strait that would connect Russia and the United States by high-speed rail. Such cooperation is capable of putting the world back on the path to peace, starting to defuse the tension that has recently made life on our planet so incredibly dangerous," Kuznik believes.
Meanwhile, Paul Saunders, president of the Washington Center for the National Interest, argued in an interview with a TASS correspondent that the Alaska summit would give Russia an "important opportunity" to end the conflict in Ukraine and "begin to rebuild.".. relations with the United States, which have suffered serious damage," if Moscow shows flexibility.
Trump announced on August 8 that he expects to meet with Putin in Alaska on August 15. Then the plans for these negotiations were confirmed by Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. According to his testimony, the leaders will focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The Kremlin expects that the next meeting between Putin and Trump will take place on Russian territory, Ushakov stressed.
