Mike Eckel
It’s a cease-fire. But what kind of cease-fire?
More than three years into the Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, the White House and the Kremlin on March 18 announced a broad agreement aimed at pausing a conflict that has killed and wounded more than 1 million men on both sides.
The contours of the deal were announced after a roughly two-hour phone call between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – the second such call of Trump’s presidency, and arguably the most consequential to date.
Ukraine, under intense pressure from the White House that included an acrimonious Oval Office meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had already signed on to the US proposal for a 30-day pause in fighting, with the caveat that Russia had to as well.
So What did Moscow Agree to Exactly?
“My main conclusion here is that Moscow is quite comfortable with Trump, but for reasons other than almost everyone discusses,” Nikolai Sokov, a former Russian diplomat who is now with the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, told RFE/RL. “Moscow can bargain with Trump whereas Europe insists its position is right and should be accepted without bargaining.”
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