General Cuong: Russia-US relations from confrontation - no dialogue to confrontation - dialogue
(Baonghean.vn) - On July 16, US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held their first summit in Helsinki, Finland, in the context of relations between the two countries at an unprecedented low. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Associate Professor, Dr., Major General Le Van Cuong - former Director of the Institute of Strategy and Science of the Ministry of Public Security about this historic meeting.
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| The two leaders shook hands at the press conference. Mr. Trump still patted his partner on the shoulder as usual. Source: Getty Images |
PV:Major General, can you tell us why US President Donald Trump proposed to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at this time?
Major General Le Van Cuong:Although the US-Russia relationship is at its worst since 1945, even considering each other as enemies, they still have to meet, because to ensure the security and interests of the US, the US President is forced to meet the Russian President. On the contrary, to protect the interests and national security, President Putin is also willing to meet his US counterpart. This is considered the most important reason. We can see that in this world, only Russia has the most direct and strongest influence and impact on the national security of the US. Because this country is a nuclear superpower, its military strength far surpasses China and is capable of destroying the US.
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For major world issues such as the prohibition of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the war in Syria, North Korea, the relationship between Russia and Europe... the US needs Russia's cooperation, otherwise it will certainly not be able to solve them. On the contrary, Russia also needs cooperation with the US because only when the relationship between the two countries is less tense will there be favorable conditions for development. This is the reason why even though the two countries are at odds, they have to meet.
PV:How does the Major General evaluate the results of the summit between Donald Trump and Putin?
Major General Le Van Cuong:We remember that before the meeting on July 16, both President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump thought it would be difficult to create a breakthrough. However, in reality, developments have proven to be different from predictions.
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| The car carrying US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania on the way to the palace. Source: EPA |
During the summit in Helsinki, Finland, the list of issues that President Donald Trump met with President Putin included 10 issues: Russia's annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine; finding a political solution to end the 7-year conflict in Syria; Iran's nuclear program and maintaining the P5+1 agreement; North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program; the strategic offensive arms reduction agreement, which expires or takes effect in February 2021; European security issues and the relationship between NATO and Russia; banning weapons of mass destruction; energy, including the issue of managing the use of the Arctic and Antarctic; Russia-US bilateral relations, including whether Russia interfered in the US presidential election in late 2016; cybersecurity and counterterrorism issues.
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| Russian troops stationed in Syria. Illustrative photo |
Although there are dozens of issues, in my opinion, President Donald Trump is most concerned about persuading President Putin to make concessions and cooperate better with the US in ending the conflict in Syria and Iran's nuclear program. On the other hand, Donald Trump also hopes to use President Putin to influence Iran to withdraw its troops from Syria in every way.
For his part, speaking at a joint press conference after the expanded talks, President Putin said that the two sides discussed the current state of bilateral relations and assessed that the talks had been effective and positive in a frank and open spirit, marking the first steps towards improving bilateral relations. The two sides agreed to establish a Joint Expert Council to find solutions to existing problems in bilateral relations.
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| The leaders of the two countries expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting. Source: Reuters |
At the same time, the two leaders also created a common understanding in finding political solutions to hot issues of international politics such as: Solving the crisis in Ukraine, the war in Syria, the nuclear issue of Iran and the Korean peninsula. Besides, the issue of most international concern is whether Russia interfered in the US presidential election at the end of 2016? During the meeting, both leaders did not avoid this issue. Mr. Trump did not blame President Putin. Mr. Putin affirmed that Russia did not interfere in the US election process and was ready to cooperate in joint working groups on cyber security.
It can be said that the recent Summit did not have a breakthrough but opened a new phase in US-Russia relations, from confrontation without dialogue to confrontation with dialogue.
PV:Why was there no joint statement at the meeting between the Russian and US presidents, Major General?
Major General Le Van Cuong:In my opinion, the first reason is that in this meeting, both sides only raised issues for discussion, there were some issues that they agreed to cooperate on, so it was difficult to issue a joint statement.
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| Delegations from Russia and the United States attended a working lunch at the Presidential Palace in Finland. Source: Getty Images |
Second, the US internal affairs are too complicated, there are voices disagreeing with the meeting between the two countries' leaders. Meanwhile, NATO is worried, North Korea is only a regional issue, while Russia is a global issue, with a great impact on the US, so Mr. Trump is not in a hurry to make statements when they are not mature enough. Because if he is hasty, there is a risk of affecting the political life of the 45th President of the United States.
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| Summit between President Donald Trump and President Putin |
PV:Dear Major General, what impact does the Summit between President Donald Trump and President Putin have on Vietnam?
Major General Le Van Cuong:The meeting between the US President and the Russian President has a great impact on Vietnam. Russia is a comprehensive strategic partner of Vietnam, while the US is a comprehensive partner of Vietnam. The tension and confrontation between the US and Russia is completely unfavorable for Vietnam, putting us in a difficult position in our relationship with Russia and the US in all aspects.
Therefore, when the US and Russia have eased tensions and started dialogue after this meeting, I think it will have a very positive impact, creating a wide open space for Vietnam in foreign affairs in terms of economy, politics, defense, and security with its comprehensive strategic partner Russia and its comprehensive partner the US. This is also the positive impact of this meeting on the world and the region.
PV:Thank you very much, Major General!
