WASHINGTON, December 7. /TASS/. Russophobic sentiment in Washington may negatively affect the approach that US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will adopt towards Russia and Ukraine, Richard Black, the Schiller Institute’s representative at the UN, told TASS.
According to him, "the implications of Donald Trump's victory for US-Russia relations and for opportunities to stop the war in Ukraine are unclear as of now." "The unfortunate affliction of Russophobia is widespread among the so-called experts and politicians in Washington, D.C., that is, Russophobia among the pool of establishment figures from which Trump will choose," he stressed.
"Certain among his reported first choices for leading people in his new administration who have called for rapid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine - such as former Congress members Tulsi Gabbard (Trump's pick for National Intelligence director - TASS) and Matt Gaetz (nominated to lead the Department of Justice - TASS) - have come under blistering and baseless attack from the neocon establishment in Congress and the corporate-controlled mass media," Black noted.
"We hope that first, Trump's repeated, publicly stated fear of a nuclear war in the near term between the US and Russia, - nuclear war, following from the current rapid escalation of the Ukraine war - and secondly, Trump's stated intent to foster an end to the war, that these two factors will determine Trump's actions with respect to President Putin's clear statement of Russia's security requirements. We hope that Trump opts for peace," the expert concluded.
On November 27, Trump nominated Keith Kellogg for the position of US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg favors a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. He suggests persuading Moscow and Kiev to resume dialogue by freezing the current frontline. His plan, among other things, reportedly includes the phased lifting of sanctions and normalization of relations with Russia, provided Moscow agrees to a peace agreement, as well as a delay in considering Ukraine's NATO membership in exchange for security guarantees for Kiev.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out earlier that resolving the Ukraine conflict required Kiev to withdraw troops from Donbass and Novorossiya and abandon plans to join NATO. Ukraine also needs to ensure full respect for the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens. In addition, Moscow believes that all Western sanctions on Russia must be removed and Ukraine’s non-bloc and non-nuclear status must be guaranteed.