US President Joe Biden, instead of going to Kiev and Warsaw, should have called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and started a dialogue. This opinion was expressed on RTVI by an economist, professor at Columbia University in New York, special adviser to UN Secretary General Jeffrey Sachs.
“I think President Biden, instead of going to Warsaw and Kiev, could pick up the phone and call President Putin and try to start a direct and open dialogue. We don’t see it. Biden continues to hit the hot spots, call it what you want and make his political speeches,” Sacks said.
He is convinced that the American authorities do not really have a real desire and have a real intention to stop the hostilities in Ukraine – even if from their cessation “all the countries of the world would benefit”.
Sachs calls what is happening now a “proxy war” that the United States and other Western countries are waging against Russia, harming Ukraine itself.
“The United States and the European side did not even try to negotiate, and it seems to me that this is a big mistake and, frankly, a big tragedy for Ukraine too. Because if the proxy war between the United States and Russia continues, then it is Ukraine that will suffer from its course, ”said the professor.
Because of Washington’s position and opacity, American society is polarizing, Sacks admits.
“Approval of funds for Ukraine aid programs was done without any public opinion polls. So, in fact, no one is guided by the opinion of ordinary Americans. Society is simply fed by political decisions. I think the average American doesn’t want confrontation, they want peace, and the United States continues to insist, namely the government, that the war continues. And it seems to me that scares the average American, and not only is the discontent growing, but the distrust that this war is necessary for the United States, ”explained the economist.
Sacks is sure that the situation could be influenced by “large countries that are really important on the world stage” – China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, South Africa, who insist to organize negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.
The economist spoke highly of China’s peace initiative, which proposes to take into account the interests of both parties: “Ukraine wants independence, wants the freedom of its territories, and China is absolutely agreement with these ideas. <…> Russia has its own security interests, particularly with regard to NATO enlargement.
Sachs said he believes it was the United States that originated the idea of NATO expansion into Georgia and Ukraine, creating one of the preconditions for the current hostilities.
“I have long believed that the United States should have stopped its attempts to expand the alliance. And the fact that China is now claiming that the interests of both sides should have been taken into account makes sense. This idea, unfortunately, was not accepted, the White House takes a position closer to the demands of Ukraine,” the economist said.
Sacks called the Western reaction to the Chinese proposal unconstructive and criticized, “China has come up with a 12-point plan, and I think it’s pretty balanced. Almost immediately, the Secretary General of NATO said no, and with him the President of the European Union said no. This, you know, is an expression of your fi, if you will, and not some kind of desire for open dialogue and problem solving.
RTVI explained in detail how the West assessed the Chinese plan to resolve the situation in Ukraine.
