BRUSSELS, January 19. /TASS/. The United States and its allies are no longer able to make the rules on the global political arena and thus need to reset relations with Russia, and that is why Washington is seeking to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, a US expert believes.

"The US is compelled to maximize room for maneuver in its relations with other great powers, given that Washington and its allies can no longer set the terms of international order alone. <…> In other words, the US needs to reset its relationship with Russia," Zachary Paikin, deputy director of the Better Order Project and research fellow in the Grand Strategy program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote in an opinion piece for Politico. "It’s a task that remains impossible without Moscow and Washington resolving their differences over Ukraine."

The expert believes that if Russia decides that negotiations on Ukraine are no longer possible, "the fighting will continue — no matter what."

"Perhaps until mutual exhaustion, or perhaps the conflict escalates in ways that severely threaten Europe’s security," Paikin wrote. "In either case, political conditions will no longer support a US-Russia reset. This is why Trump has, despite repeated obstacles, remained determined to pursue peace in Ukraine."

The expert goes on to say that while responding to Trump’s initiatives on Ukraine, European politicians "largely missed the forest for the trees."

"Too often, the bloc has sought to insert poison pills into negotiations, transgressing Russia’s red lines — like with the Coalition of the Willing’s proposal to deploy a deterrence force on Ukrainian soil," Paikin wrote.

In his view, "failing to entertain the compromises necessary for peace would be a major missed opportunity for Europe," because resolving the situation in Ukraine "would still allow Kiev to eventually join the EU" and develop security cooperation with the West, while European countries would have a chance "to stand on their own two feet as the continent’s leading security providers."

The expert maintained, however, that he sees "some encouraging signs" in recent events.

"The coalition’s latest proposal for a multinational force makes no explicit provision for the deployment of combat troops on Ukrainian soil," he wrote, adding that this could point to the possibility of reaching an agreement on security guarantees that Moscow would find acceptable.