U.S. assures Ukraine its interests won’t be traded with Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made assurances that Ukraine’s interests would not be involved in any trade with Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told Voice of America on March 7 after their meeting in Washington. “The theme was clearly stated that there can’t be, in any way, any formal, informal, imaginary or mythological exchanges,” Klimkin said. “Therefore the issue of Ukraine is not going to be resolved in any way in the context of other issues. Ukraine’s issues are fundamentally important for the United States.”

Tiller emphasized that “the U.S. sanctions against the Russian Federation will stay in force until the Minsk Agreements are fully implemented, the aggression is ceased and Donbas and Crimea are deoccupied,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a March 7 statement.

The next day, the U.S. State Department issued a statement positively assessing the meeting of Tillerson and Klimkin, calling on all the parties to implement the Minsk agreements and confirming the sanctions against Russia will continue. During the meeting, the parties discussed internal issues, as well as the United States’ continuing concern regarding compliance with the Minsk agreements.

Recall, U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with The Times of London published on Jan. 16 that he would be looking to make deals with Russia in exchange for removing sanctions, suggesting a possible reduction in nuclear weapons. During his presidential campaign, Trump indicated sanctions could be relaxed. 

Zenon Zawada: Tillerson’s alleged assurances to Klimkin would indicate a complete reversal of Trump’s approach towards the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Throughout his presidential campaign until his inauguration, Trump made clear that he was interested in finding compromise with Russia, drawing upon his extensive experience as a dealmaker. We predicted that a conflict would emerge in Trump’s foreign policy team between pro-Russia doves and pro-Ukraine hawks and we believe this conflict continues to brew behind the scenes. In the meantime, Trump and Tillerson are keeping the status quo.

Moreover, we are confident that efforts have not ceased to find compromise with Russia and strike some kind of a deal on sanctions, since it had been such a priority for Trump. That’s especially the case given that Trump appears to be launching his offensive against the Islamic State, having deployed U.S Marines to Syria. And it will be the case even more so if Marine Le Pen is elected president of France. We see even chances that a deal between Trump and Putin can be suddenly announced within the next several months, even involving concessions on Ukraine, despite Tillerson’s reassuring words.