Trump’s Black Sea truce plan is a ‘gift to Russia,’ analysts warn
The deal for a maritime truce between Russia and Ukraine looks like a Kremlin wish-list and an example of Trump handing concessions to Putin, analysts warn.
The American-brokered deal for a maritime ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine looks little more than a dream Kremlin wish-list and another example of President Donald Trump handing concessions to Vladimir Putin, some Western analysts warned Wednesday.
An American delegation has been negotiating separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to fulfill Trump’s promise to quickly end the fighting in Eastern Europe. On Tuesday, the White House said it had reached an agreement with both parties for a truce over the Black Sea, a strategic body of water bordering Ukraine, Russia and four other nations including Turkey, a major U.S. ally and NATO member.
However, the terms of this tentative deal are enormously favorable for the Kremlin — with few upsides to Ukraine, according to many Russia-watchers in Europe and the United States.
“It is unsurprising that the Americans have agreed to most, if not all, of Russia’s demands” because “the U.S. wants almost any deal,” according to James Nixey, head of the Russia-Eurasia program at the London think-tank Chatham House. Washington “is no longer an honest broker in these diplomatic negotiations,” he added, “because it clearly wishes to pursue the normalization of relations with Russia at the expense of Ukraine’s demands, ambitions and desires.”
A member of the Ukrainian coast guard on patrol in the Black Sea in February. Thomas Peter / Reuters fileNBC News has contacted the White House for comment.
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