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Russian expert: The meeting between Putin and Trump could be held in Baku-OPINION

13 January 2025 16:38 (UTC +04:00)

It is possible that a meeting between the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and newly-elected U.S. President Donald Trump could be held in Baku, Sergey Markov, Director of the Russian Institute of Political Studies and a prominent political scientist, said in an interview with APA's Moscow correspondent.

According to him, there are several locations where the meeting between Putin and Trump could be held: "These are primarily Istanbul, Dubai, and Baku. These places are also convenient in terms of communication, as they are cities of neutral countries, and in these cities, the security of the leaders, especially the Russian President, can be ensured. Western intelligence agencies have demonized Putin, and various terrorist organizations are preparing assassination attempts against him. Therefore, Putin cannot fly to distant locations. Because his security is under threat. Baku, on the other hand, is very close and safe. Moreover, Baku has repeatedly hosted talks between the U.S. and Russian Chief of Staffs. From this perspective, the intelligence services of Russia and the U.S. have very good communication with Azerbaijan's intelligence services to ensure the safety of officials from Moscow and Washington."

The Russian expert stressed that he expects the Putin-Trump meeting to take place in the spring: "However, my expectations from the results of this meeting are very different. Many expect that after this meeting, military operations in Ukraine will cease. However, I don't think so. In my opinion, this will not be possible yet. Because there are many obstacles to stopping military operations. However, at the Putin-Trump meeting, very important decisions can be made for Russia and the United States, as well as for the whole world. The American people's main demand from Trump is not to stop the war in Ukraine, but to stop being dragged into a nuclear war with Russia. The Biden administration was pushing the United States into a nuclear war with Russia. This is one of the reasons the American people elected Trump as president. The Russian side also always talks about the situation in the world leading to a direct conflict between Moscow and Washington. Therefore, I think that the most important decision to be made at the Putin-Trump meeting will be an agreement on security guarantees to prevent a nuclear war. The second important decision to be made will not be the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine. Because this, according to Russia's position, is impossible without a serious fundamental decision regarding peace. Moscow fears that this could be a pause for Ukraine to rearm against Russia. It is possible that some system of humanitarian restrictions on the conduct of military operations could be created. For example, Russia and Ukraine will be committed to not attacking energy infrastructure, including hydropower and nuclear power plants. This step could significantly reduce the humanitarian crisis of the conflict. This in itself will lead to a positive tendency in the future resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.”

According to Markov's prediction, a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine will be reached in the fall of this year, not during the spring.