Europe must not take part in “dirty deal” between U.S. and Russia, German political scientist says
The United States is far more interested in gaining access to Russian raw materials and involving American companies than in supporting Ukraine, and European countries must clearly distance themselves from any possible “dirty” deals between the U.S. and Russia.
This was stated by German political scientist and senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) at University of Bonn, Andreas Heinemann-Grüder, in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.
Commenting on trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia on ending Russian aggression, Heinemann-Grüder said there are low expectations for success. He called it a positive signal that during the last prisoner exchange, Ukrainian civilians, who are generally deprived of rights in Russian captivity, were also released, describing it as a “small step forward.”
The expert also suggested that “perhaps attacks on ships in the Black Sea may still cease,” and that there could be a “temporary halt to attacks on infrastructure, particularly energy infrastructure.” However, he stressed that this would only happen if the Americans exerted very strong pressure.
“My hope in this regard is very small,” Heinemann-Grüder added.
According to him, two parallel tracks of negotiations are currently underway: “Some visible, some invisible.” “The Americans are negotiating with the Russians on how to gain access to raw materials,” while other negotiations take place in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, or Geneva.
“For the Americans, I think what Witkoff and Kushner are negotiating in Moscow is far more important than what they are doing for Ukraine. My concern is that the Americans are much more interested in Mobile Exxon, in companies that want to explore the Arctic, Siberia, or the Northwest Passage – or in participating in those ventures. That is their focus. Ukraine is not really their interest, and Putin knows this,” the German political scientist said.
He called on Europe to clearly distance itself from any possible “dirty deal” between the U.S. and Russia: “Europe and Germany must signal: we will not follow any dirty deal by the Americans, we will not lift sanctions – the sanctions remain in place. European companies interested in joining a dirty U.S. deal must be monitored and controlled.”
The professor reminded that in Germany, companies including those within the Eastern Committee of the German Econonmy, and in France, for example, Total, are seeking to return to the Russian market.
“It must be made clear to them: not with us. Neither with France nor with German heavy industry. We will not participate, sanctions will not be lifted, and you will not gain access to frozen assets,” he said.
“The assets will remain frozen,” the expert emphasized.
Heinemann-Grüder added that Putin is counting on Trump to lift sanctions: “Putin hopes that, with Trump’s help, he will be able to escape sanctions.”
As previously reported by Ukrinform, there is a possibility that the U.S. and Russia could sign documents on economic cooperation worth around $12 trillion.