According to what Trump himself declared, the interview with the leader of the Kremlin will be a “preparatory” meeting in view of a possible relaunch of the negotiating process. “And if it goes well – he added – there will be a second shortly with Putin and Zelensky in which I will also participate if they want”. The European chancelleries welcomed the reassurances provided by the White House with cautious optimism. In particular, the commitment was appreciated not to consider any hypothesis of territorial exchange with Moscow without Kiev’s consent.
But from Moscow, in the same hours, a dry denial has come to possible openings. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the Russian “principle position” has not changed: to reach a peace agreement, Ukraine should retire from the four occupied regions (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzia and Kherson) and renounce the prospect of joining NATO. Moscow has liquidated the consultations between Trump and European leaders as “insignificant”. Alexii Fadeyev, deputy director of the information department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it: “In words, they support the diplomatic efforts of Washington and Moscow to solve the crisis concerning Ukraine, but in reality the European Union is sabotaged them”.
Trump reiterated the will to reach the end of the conflict, but did not anticipate what the contents of the meeting will be with Putin. But one thing is certain: the real goal of the head of the White House is to return to business with Moscow. In fact, the war also had repercussions on the American economy and Trump has no intention of continuing to lose money. Hence the need to re -establish relationships with Putin and find a way out. At the same time, the Tycoon is ready to download the war on the European Championships, starting from the France-Germany-Gran Britain axis, a prominent countries of the coalition of the “willing”.
And Italy? Italy will be called to a choice if this scenario should materialize. The priority is to avoid any escalation, so the priority will not be to follow Macron & Co. in a potential conflict with Moscow. At the same time, it could take advantage of the situation to take control of the Mediterranean, increasingly fundamental in global trade: by connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean, it becomes crucial in a phase in which 80-90 percent of the goods circulates by the sea. Rome could try to attract more than a part of these traffic – you need investments and foresight, it is clear – playing a role as a absolute protagonist in the area.
Returning to Ukraine, on the field, the war knows no respite. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Moscow troops would have conquered two other villages in the Donetsk region. The advance, according to a detection of the AFP agency based on the data of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), represents the largest of the last twelve months, with 110 square kilometers spent under Russian control in just 24 hours. In response, the Ukrainian authorities have ordered the forced evacuation of families with children in dozens of locations. Zelensky has announced that the Ukrainian army has managed to regain six eighteen villages occupied in the northern region of Sumy. The top in Alaska therefore promises to be a crucial passage, even if the distances between the parties remain large.
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