19 February, 2025. Prenegotiations are so-called because they are procedural and therefore generally come before the first stage of substantive negotiations; unless, of course, the lead negotiator of one of the parties is a self-confessed genius, has a conception of diplomacy that is entirely theatrical and is in a hurry. Thus the publicized phone call by Trump to Putin immediately preceding the US-Russian talks about talks on Ukraine (and other matters) at foreign minister level in Riyadh on 18 February 2025.
In this phone call, Trump actually launched substantive negotiations with Vladimir Putin. Moreover, he made staggering concessions to him with nothing in return. First, by initiating the call and publicizing it he brought the Russian aggressor and war criminal in from the diplomatic cold. Second, he conceded the principle that Ukrainian territory would be on the agenda. Third, he agreed that the innocent victim in the war, Ukraine, would be excluded from all discussions. Fourth, he volunteered that Ukraine would never be admitted to NATO. Fifth, he ignored the serious interests of America’s allies in Europe in the outcome of any talks. And sixth, either in the phone call or shortly afterwards, he evidently agreed that the ‘prenegotiations’ should be publicly launched under Saudi good offices (albeit with the bilateral conversations themselves taking place beyond the cameras), thereby underlining how happy was the US president to be seen carving up a substantial part of the world with a fellow autocrat.
Fortunately, the Kremlin’s propagandists were at least on this occasion equally stupid and could not resist gloating over Trump’s rush into Putin’s sticky arms. With any luck this might help to stiffen the US negotiators in the forthcoming talks.
Of course, if in reality President Trump proves to be nothing more than a mob boss intent on running a protection racket in Ukraine, with rare earths, reconstruction contracts and Trump Hotels on the Black Sea riviera in his fevered mind, his hasty ‘concessions’ to his kindred spirit in the Kremlin should be seen in a different light. A new Axis of Evil certainly certainly seems to be coming into view. All power to liberal democratic governments in Europe and elsewhere, and in the United States to the current campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders against kleptocracy, oligarchy and authoritarianism in the once great republic.