Matthew Bryza: Putin and Trump to discuss peace between Baku and Yerevan in Alaska

US diplomat Matthew Bryza, in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza spoke about the likely agenda of the talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska and the results of Trump's trilateral summit with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington.

US President Donald Trump began August with high diplomatic activity: yesterday, he held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of Armenia and signed a Joint Declaration with them, and next week, he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

According to the assessment of former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza, expressed to Vestnik Kavkaza, these events are interconnected: in addition to the Ukrainian conflict, Putin and Trump will most likely discuss the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.

What will Putin and Trump talk about in Alaska?

"I can assume that Trump's main task during a personal meeting in Alaska is to convince President Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, and then move on to the process of concluding a long-term peace. This is the main point on the US agenda of the negotiations. But it is also obvious that Trump and Putin will discuss the agreement concluded yesterday between Azerbaijan and Armenia," he said.

What is Trump’s attitude towards Putin?

The diplomat drew attention to Trump's very positive assessments of Putin as a politician. "Trump truly admires Putin. We see that his approach is "Russia first" and "Putin first", based on the fact that in Alaska he meets only with Putin, and not with Zelensky. This is quite interesting from the point of view that Trump considers Putin as the main force, and Zelensky as a secondary character. That is, it is only in Putin's hands to end the conflict. There is logic in Trump's approach, although I am sure that this worries President Zelensky and Ukraine as well,” he noted.

Will US-Russia relations improve?

The former ambassador is skeptical about the prospects for normalizing Russian-US relations. "So far, there is no sign of normalization of relations. Enormous tensions will remain”.

What are Trump's plans for the South Caucasus?

Speaking about the trilateral summit with Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, the US diplomat drew attention to the media nature of Donald Trump's interest in the South Caucasus.

"It seems to me that the main reason President Trump entered the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He talks about it all the time, noting that for this he wants to end Israel's war in Gaza, stop the Ukrainian conflict, put an end to the confrontation between Pakistan and India, ensure a truce between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Thailand and Cambodia. President Trump does not have any strategic vision for the South Caucasus," Matthew Bryza emphasized.