Putin, Trump won’t discuss Crimea annexation, Peskov says

Russian President Putin and U.S. President Trump will
not discuss the status of Crimea at their summit scheduled for July 16, presidential
spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 2, as reported by the Interfax news
agency. “The president of Russia has stated several times and explained that
such an issue can’t and never will be on the day’s agenda because Crimea is an
inseparable part of Russia,” Peskov said. “All other issues are a matter of
consensus, discussions and a search for possible common points.”

Zenon Zawada: Peskov’s statement is in line with the agenda of Trump, who has made
clear that he doesn’t mind Crimea remaining part of Russia. However, we
certainly expect a discussion on U.S.-imposed sanctions on the illegal Crimean
annexation. Putin is trying to get them relaxed or lifted altogether, having
sponsored a Russian lobby to actively work on this matter in the EU and the
U.S. He also wants to prevent any new sanctions from being imposed. So even if
it’s true that Putin won’t address Crimea at all in his meeting with Trump
(which we don’t believe, given his need to reduce sanctions), his advisers will
continue to work to relax and remove sanctions in Western legislatures, or
block them altogether.