America’s European lackeys must also be brought to heel and relinquish their Russophobic fantasies.
The mere fact that the leaders of the world’s two largest nuclear powers are engaging in earnest, respectful dialogue to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a peaceful end has to be seen as a good thing.
U.S. President Donald Trump held his second phone call this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was a follow-up call to the first one held on February 12.
Lasting nearly two and a half hours (an hour longer than the previous one), it was the longest phone contact between a U.S. president and his Russian counterpart held for many years.
That can be seen as an indictment of the irresponsible lack of diplomacy that has prevailed in Washington.
Both men hailed the dialogue as productive and a sign of their commitment to finding a “lasting peace” in Ukraine. Those words imply acceptance of Russia’s position that a frozen conflict and a mere cessation of hostilities are inadequate and that there will have to be a historic, far-reaching new global security accord.
The Kremlin commented that the presidents had established mutual trust and understanding about moving forward to negotiate an end to the conflict and also to pursue normal bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.
Compared with the void of communication from Washington to Moscow under previous White House administrations, the “return to diplomacy” is a welcome development. As geopolitical analyst Fyodor Lukyanov remarked, President Trump has discarded “ideological baggage” that has thwarted sensible relations with Russia. Not just thwarting sensible relations but indeed provoking dangerous geopolitical tensions to the brink of all-out nuclear war.
