Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 30 – Even before it
takes place and US President Donald Trump makes concessions to Vladimir Putin
in exchange for empty promises by the dictator, concessions that may include
acceptance of Russian positions on Crimea and Syria, the Helsinki summit itself
constitutes “an unprecedented betrayal” of the interests of the West, Igor
Eidman says.
Supporters of the US president argue
that what Trump is doing is no more than what his predecessors have done: “American
presidents didn’t avoid meeting with Soviet dictators so why shouldn’t Trump
meet with Putin,” but that isn’t true,
the Russian commentator for Deutsche Welle says (facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1915703678492602&id=100001589654713).
This “situation is
unprecedented,” Eidman argues. Yes, American leaders met with Soviet bosses “but
in absolutely different circumstances” and for absolutely different reasons.
Some were compelled to by the needs of a military alliance during World War II
while others sought to promote de-Stalinization, the Helsinki Process and
Perestroika.
“Thus, after World War II, American
leaders met with Soviet general secretaries only when the latter moved from a
harsh Stalinist course and oriented themselves toward peaceful coexistence. One
can’t imagine that Reagan would have met with Brezhnev after the [Soviet] invasion
of Afghanistan.”
“Now, everything is
just the reverse,” Eidman argues. Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea and his drowning
of the Donbass in blood “doesn’t bother Trump.
Putin is currently conducting “several
aggressive wars at once – in Ukraine, Syria and a hybrid one against the West.
He has practically been declared an international terrorist (after the verdict
in the Litvinenko case, the shooting down of the Boeing, the poisoning of
Skripal and so on),” the Deutsche welle
commentator says.
During his time in office, Eidman
continues, the Kremlin ruler has shown that he does not observe any agreements
and lies as easily as he breathes. In
this situation, to have a completely friendly meeting with Putin (and it will
be that way judging by the statements of the representatives of the White
House) is to reward his continuing aggression and other crimes.”
“This is a direct blow to security
everywhere,” the commentator says. And it is thus “a betrayal not just of
Ukraine but also of the interests of the United States itself.”
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