Balodis emphasized that Ukraine’s relations with Russia had been bad for seven years, but Russia’s political motive or interest in escalating the conflict to real clashes was still not really understood. According to him, Ukraine has largely become a political playground.
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As to whether a compromise on Ukraine could be reached during a possible meeting between Biden and Putin, the researcher said that according to the information currently available following a telephone conversation between the US and Russian presidents, the meeting is likely to take place and summit.
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“I think that the previously set course of the Baiden administration, strict and consistent policy towards Russia will definitely continue. In addition, the US has shown its support for Ukraine, which is a gesture towards Russia, that if Russia tries to intimidate Ukraine to some extent The US response is because politically the US is behind Kiev, “the researcher explained.
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According to him, compromises on the part of the United States are difficult to reach because the positions of the Baiden administration and the Kremlin are incompatible. Balodis pointed out that no political market would be expected from the Baiden administration regarding Ukraine’s sovereignty or Ukrainian territories.
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“I doubt whether the United States could make concessions, because, for example, today the United States announced that new sanctions are planned against Russia, and these sanctions will also affect Russia’s public debt service, which will be a strong blow to the Russian economy,” said the expert.
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Asked what Russia’s motivation is for action at the Ukrainian border, Balodis said that one additional aspect is that Russia is trying to create a gap between the EU and the United States. He said the Baiden administration had a strong policy towards Russia, while EU political heavyweights had traditionally been a little more conciliatory.
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“Russia is also trying to play out this situation to see if Biden is able to find a common language with the EU. Otherwise, it opens the door for Russia to increase its influence. If we talk about challenging the United States, I assume that one of the things the Kremlin is trying to achieve is “It is possible to sit down at the same table with the United States, which would position Russia as one of the global powers,” said the researcher.
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He emphasized that Russia wanted to sit at the same table with the United States so that the two great powers could decide the fate of the whole world. According to the expert, this is one of the aspects that Russia is trying to achieve, given the ambitions of the great power. Russia also wants to assert itself and wants the United States to show confirmation of Russia’s status. In this way, Russia would like to win a seat at the big table with the strongest countries, while concealing the fact that Russia’s approach is to create problems and then try to present itself as a problem solver, for example, Russia causes problems in Ukraine and now Ukraine cannot be solved without Russia.
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