Russia complained that the United States wasn’t playing a constructive role in improving U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations in Istanbul meetings between 66-year-old CIA Director William Burns and Sergei Naryshkin, chief of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service. Burns and Naryshkin met in Ankara for back channel talks to keep the lines of communication open. While the meeting focused on technical issues, the hope was it could pave the way for peace talks on the Ukraine War. Last week’s prisoner swap between 32-year-old WNBA start Britney Griner and 55-year-old Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout showed, that despite the U.S. proxy war against the Russian Federation, business could still get done. President Joe Biden, 80, requested that Burns go to Instanbul and try to work out some technical details neglected since the 10-month-long Ukraine War started Feb. 24.
Keeping lines of communication are important to U.S.-Russian bilateral relations. Since the Ukraine War started, diplomatic relations hit a new post WW II low, with both countries on a war footing. Whatever the conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia have important issues related to global relations beyond the dispute over Ukraine. President Joe Biden, 80, has taken Ukraine’s side to the extent that it’s harmed U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations. Sending Burns and a U.S. delegation to Istanbul attempts to keep contacts between the two sides open as much as possible. No one really knows why the White House tossed U.S.-Russian relations under the bus to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, when Ukraine has little national security significance to the U.S. other than it’s fledgling democracy under Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky.
U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations have endured many ups and down since the end of WW II but both countries have always worked to find common ground. Since the Ukraine War, Biden has ignored decades to pragmatic relations with Moscow, taking Ukraine’s side but, more importantly, building a Western alliance against the Russian Federation. Biden thought his best approach to assert leverage over 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin was turn the Western Alliance against him with punitive economic sanctions, hoping to stop the invasion. But the punitive approach has only hardened both countries leaving important global business ignored, including foreign policy challenges in China, North Korea, Iran and many other unstable parts of the planet. Sending Burns to Istanbul to meet with his Russian counterpart intends to keep some communication open.
Turkey’s 69-year-old President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has graciously offered Istanbul to serve a neutral place to lay the groundwork for a ceasefire and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Little progress has been made to date largely because the U.S. and Kiev has shown little interest in negotiation. Biden expressed the belief that if Ukraine wins more territory on the battlefield, they’ll have a better chance of winning concessions at the peace table. Whether that strategy works or not, the U.S. and Kiev haven’t been serious about ending the proxy war against the Kremlin. “Istanbul is a convenient place for such contacts,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin told RIA Novosti news agency. “I can say that any contacts are useful, but, unfortunately, we do not see a constructive approach from the American side aimed a concrete results,” Vershinin said.
When it comes to technical issues like visa applications there’s less controversy than issues related to the Ukraine War. Putin wanted a new security architecture in Ukraine because of what he sees as NATO’s encroachment on the Russian Federation. When it comes to Ukraine, Biden and Zelensky have not accepted that they must negotiate a workable security arrangement before Putin will feel satisfied with the arrangement. Putin said that having a U.S.-puppet state on the Russian border doesn’t sit well with Russian national security. When you consider the widespread destruction of Ukraine since the war started Feb. 24, you’d think Biden and Zelensky would take seriously any proposal to stop the carnage and destruction. Erdogan has played a constructive role in bringing both sides together in a neutral setting capable to resolving any unfinished issues.
Keeping back channels of communication open at a time of war only underscores the dangers to U.S.-Russian diplomacy going forward. Ukraine holds little national security significance to the U.S., despite the fact that Biden tries to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukraine gets little benefit to battling the Russian Federation other that destroying more essential infrastructure, creating a growing humanitarian crisis with some 15 million Ukrainian refugees. Burns and Sergei Naryshkin should continue their dialogue to keep back channels open when the day comes when it’s time to end the Ukraine War. Erdogan has helped keep grain flowing from Ukrainian ports and could restart Russian fertilizer sales. “With regard to the export of fertilizers, ammonia, we must talk about he commercial component,” said Vershinin, seeking to keep the doors open.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
