Locally there are changes, globally the situation does not change: Alexander Semchenko on Putin-Trump talks

Political scientist Alexander Semchenko commented to Alpha News on the talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as well as the prospects for normalizing relations between Russia and the US and settling the conflict in Ukraine.

According to the expert, the US went for a partial easing of sanctions, guided by its own interests, while the question of fully normalizing relations with Russia remains open.

“On the one hand, these talks have already led the US Treasury Department to decide to lift sanctions on certain Russian goods and certain Russian companies. But all of this was done for the benefit of the US, and they have not departed from their own benefit by a single step. There is no talk of fully lifting sanctions or fully normalizing relations,” Semchenko noted.

In the expert’s view, the agreements between Moscow and Washington will not end the conflict in Ukraine, because Kyiv does not take Trump’s threats as real.

“The conditions Trump has set are not being met. And the point here is that Zelensky and the people behind him, the British in particular, do not believe that the threats voiced by Trump will be carried out. These are cutting the Ukrainian Armed Forces off from intelligence data, including cutting them off from Starlink, as well as halting American weapons supplies,” Semchenko said.

According to the political scientist, the Ukrainian leadership is not afraid of the cessation of European aid, despite the EU’s demands to adopt additional anti-corruption laws.

“Zelensky is in no hurry to accept the EU’s conditions, because he does not believe the EU will refuse him aid. In this situation, the main beneficiary of the war is still the West, and Zelensky understands that the war on Ukrainian territory is needed more by the West than by him,” Semchenko said.

Commenting on Zelensky’s proposal for a 60-day ceasefire to hold elections, Semchenko expressed the opinion that a halt to fire could give Ukrainian troops a chance to regroup and improve their position at the front.

“First, Russia held elections without a ceasefire, in conditions where the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out targeted strikes on polling stations. There were even members and chairs of election commissions killed, in particular in the Zaporizhzhia region. And second, we all understand perfectly well what this ceasefire would be used for,” the political scientist noted.

In the expert’s view, elections in Ukraine do not in themselves guarantee a change in relations with Russia. The expert believes that regardless of whether Zelensky stays in power or is replaced by another politician, the conflict may continue.

“If Zelensky is re-elected, it will not get better for Russia. If someone like Zaluzhny, Budanov and so on is elected, it will not either. But the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to regroup, will be able to get out of the encirclements they are now sitting in under Russian strikes. Practically everything will have to be started from scratch. Locally there are certain changes, a warming in the talks, but globally the situation does not change,” Semchenko concluded.