So far, Ukrainian Minister of External Affairs Pavel Klimkin has been spending most of the time abroad, including Washington, New York, Munich and other Western cities. Over the last couple of weeks, he managed to participate in a number of meetings.
While the entire world is watching President Trump still making his first steps in big politics, the European Union is getting ready for elections in several EU member states. Apparently, the Western world is not focused on Ukraine now as it used to be a couple of months ago. That’s why the minister is travelling around Europe and the USA trying to explain the pain that Ukraine has been suffering from over the last couple of years.
During one of the interviews, Pavel Klimkin told the journalists about the plans to stop Russia’s aggression and strengthening ties with Trump’s administration. All in all, he is trying to say that improving relations is like playing music where each musician is responsible for their own part. Also, he says that they are working in multiple directions at the same time, including the UN Security Council, the U.S. Department of State, the Pentagon etc. He is also excited about the meeting between President Poroshenko and Vice President Pense. This was a great talk in terms of understanding Moscow’s intensions and ambitions. Apparently, they will have some time to figure out everything and make up their mind.
Also Klimkin is said to have had productive talks in Washington. This was an unofficial visit. He met with some members of the UN Security Council. As for the American attitude to the Crimea and sanctions against Russia, it speaks for itself. Klimkin says that the attitude is clear and unambiguous, which is why there is no need to read something between the lines. He is sure that Ukraine needs to cooperate more tightly with the NATO and the United States in particular, and the cooperation needs to be implemented in multiple fields. Since Klimkin devotes most of his time to resolving Ukraine’s national security challenges, he claims that the cooperation between Ukraine and the West is already starting to bring fruit.
As for the possibility of a big deal between Moscow and Washington discussed heavily over the last couple of weeks, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs doesn’t believe that such a big deal is possible, even though he doesn’t deny the possibility of Russia-US cooperation in the Middle East in the war against the ISIS and the international terrorism. In other words, we can see a number of small deals, but a big deal contradicts the logic of America’s aims and ambitions.
