Poroshenko says he will meet with Trump today in Brussels

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told reporters at the NATO summit in Brussels that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump today, the eurointegration.com.ua news site said. He said he hopes to discuss Trump’s July 16 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I don’t fear anything,” Poroshenko said regarding Trump’s intentions. “And we have very strong statements and a strong position, both from the State Department as well as from the White House, on support for Ukraine and its independence.”

 

The NATO summit declaration reiterated its support for Ukraine amid ongoing Russian military aggression. “Russia’s aggressive actions, including the threat and use of force to attain political goals, challenge the Alliance and are undermining Euro-Atlantic security and the rules-based international order,” the statement said. The declaration reiterated NATO support for Ukraine’s aspirations to join the organization, but didn’t confirm Ukraine’s aspirant status after Ukraine was included in its list of aspirant countries in March.

 

Russian law enforcement has intercepted nearly 100 Ukrainian vessels in the Azov Sea since late April, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in an interview on July 12. “We see that this is a deliberate policy of the Russian Federation oriented towards blocking access to the Azov Sea, practically ruining the economy of two seaports – Berdiansk and Mariupol, and causing an escalation in the region’s instability,” he said. “People will understand that they will lose their jobs, salaries and traditional businesses and that will work in the Kremlin’s favor.”

 

Zenon Zawada: We expect Poroshenko will update Trump on the situation with Russian aggression, including the latest pressure on merchant vessels entering the Azov Sea, the situation with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (against which Trump boldly adopted Ukraine’s criticism yesterday), Russia’s ongoing persecution of political opponents in Crimea and the need to free Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, including the film director Oleg Sentsov, whose hunger strike is approaching its second month.

 

Trump has tried to find common points of understanding with both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. While he has recognized Russian aggression in Ukraine, bolstered sanctions against Russia and provided Ukraine with defensive armaments, he has also expressed empathy with Russia’s claims to Crimea, despite the illegal nature of the annexation. Trump understands that the West risks a continental war if it forces Russia to withdraw from Crimea.

 

No matter what public statements are made after the July 16 summit, we won’t know what was truly agreed upon, given the two leaders will have met privately. We expect Trump will use this meeting to bolster their relationship and try to find common grounds of cooperation and areas of compromise on their foreign policy goals throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East and the Muslim world.

 

Though Putin has stated that Crimea will not be up for discussion, we believe that he is posturing ahead of the talks and that Crimea will be referred to, at least indirectly. We expect Trump will indicate to Putin that he can’t relax sanctions yet, especially with pressure from the Western establishment, but he will be able to overlook the Crimean question (without granting official recognition) in order to achieve common foreign policy goals.