Contacts with the U.S. did not cease even during Biden’s presidency: Senior Russian interlocutor on Russia-U.S. talks

Russia’s back channel links intensified under President Donald Trump, but Russian representatives had maintained contacts even with the previous administration under President Joe Biden, said a senior interlocutor who has been part of the back channel negotiations that helped in maintaining dialogue tracks between Russia and the United States in the last three and half years since the Ukraine crisis began.

Trump-Putin Alaska Summit LIVE

In a written interview to The Hindu, Nikolai Plotnikov, Head of the Center for Scientific and Analytical Information of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the summit in Alaska is not just about Ukraine and that there is a sense of panic in Europe as Russia and the U.S. have made a fresh beginning.

“Contacts with the U.S. did not cease even during Biden’s presidency. With the start of Trump’s second term, the situation began to change dramatically. Contacts resumed through the foreign policy departments, special services, and the military. Special representatives have been actively at work: Kirill Dmitriev on the Russian side and Steve Witkoff on the American side. One should also mention contacts at the expert and academic levels,” said Mr. Plotnikov.

The summit in Alaska is the first in recent years when the top leaderships of Russia and the United States are meeting seven months after the return of President Donald Trump as the U.S. President. Formal communication between the two sides had broken down after the Biden administration imposed a slew of sanctions on Russia after President Putin ordered a “special military campaign” against neighbouring Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

The Alaska summit has been opposed by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has demanded that a discussion on the future of Ukraine must include Ukraine’s leadership. That however did not prevent a number of countries, India included from welcoming the summit. Mr. Plotnikov said that Ukraine was not included in the summit as Mr. Zelenskyy has “no legal rights”.

“They voluntarily gave up their independence in favor of Washington, London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, and other Western capitals,” said Mr. Plotnikov marking 2014 as the year when Ukraine according to him ceased to be independent after the removal of President Viktor Yanukovych in the so called “Revolution of Dignity”. He further said that European Union’s strategy on Russia has failed and that the European states had miscalculated their strategy of using a “blitzkrieg” of sanctions against Russia.

“Judging by the plentiful statements coming out of various European capitals (except perhaps for Hungary and Slovakia), Europe is panicking. With his decision to meet President Putin, Donald Trump revealed who is really in charge,” said Mr. Plotnikov. He further said that discussion between President Trump and President Putin would also make a difference in enduring conflict zones of the world including in Armenia-Azerbaijan and India-Pakistan.  

“If the two world powers and leading members of the nuclear club find common ground in resolving existing issues, everyone will benefit,” said Mr. Plotnikov.