WASHINGTON, March 20. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump's strategy of interaction with Russia is already beginning to bear fruit, an American political analyst who asked not to be named, told TASS, commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin's telephone conversation with Trump on March 18.
The policy of engaging Russia on a broader diplomatic front with respect to issues beyond Ukraine is beginning to bear fruit in bilateral relations, as demonstrated by the agreement on a partial energy ceasefire," the expert said.
The way he sees it, the conversation between Putin and Trump "marks a substantive first step on what will be a long and winding road to a negotiated peace."
"The overall success of this negotiation track will depend on the ability of all the sides, including Ukraine, to settle on a viable, realistic roadmap to a lasting peace settlement," the analyst said.
Former NATO Deputy Secretary-General and former US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Rose Gottemoeller, in remarks made to a TASS correspondent described the agreements reached during the conversation between the two presidents as a positive first step. She noted that, in her view, Putin and Trump had returned to the position originally articulated by the Ukrainian side, which called for a ceasefire concerning long-range airstrikes on energy and other infrastructure. Gottemoeller suggested that a good second step would involve a ceasefire agreement in the Black Sea and a moratorium on airstrikes, which she believed would be supported by both Kiev and Europe.
However, she also pointed to the apparent discrepancies between Moscow and Washington regarding the content of the discussion between Putin and Trump. Gottemoeller expressed hope that the understanding of the two presidents is the same.
Furthermore, she argued that the Kremlin's statement about their conversation only highlighted the bilateral process between Russia and the United States. She proposed that any settlement effort would clearly involve Ukraine as well, although she acknowledged that the US side was willing to engage in shuttle diplomacy. As Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized on March 19, Moscow had explained to Washington in detail all the aspects concerning the implementation of Trump's idea of a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. However, these topics are quite sensitive and subject to deep elaboration at the bilateral level and should hardly be a subject matter of public discussions, Peskov said.