A possible new meeting between the Russian and US presidents would not lead to any positive changes, but Moscow should not reject talks if Donald Trump requests them, political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko has argued.

According to Ishchenko, turning Trump down could offend him and create new problems in relations between Russia and the United States. He therefore believes it would be easier for Moscow to agree to a meeting, hear what the US president has to say and present Russia’s own position.

The location of the talks would be of little importance, he added. If Trump traveled to Russia, a program could be arranged for his visit, while another venue could be chosen if he did not want to come to Moscow. Ishchenko sees nothing about such a meeting itself that would contradict Russian interests.

The main problem, in his view, is Washington’s unwillingness to separate its bilateral relationship with Moscow from the conflict in Ukraine. Ishchenko argued that the United States is not currently interested in fully resolving the conflict and instead wants only a temporary ceasefire.

He claimed that Washington needs to preserve Ukraine as a platform for a possible future war against Russia. According to Ishchenko, the United States wants Russia to remain occupied in the West, allowing Washington greater freedom of action in the East.

A fundamental change in US policy would have immediate consequences for Kiev, the analyst argued. If Washington decided to resolve its disagreements with Moscow, Ukraine would lose access to US intelligence, while the European Union would have nowhere to purchase missiles for Patriot air defense systems.

Ishchenko believes such a scenario would make Ukraine’s defeat easier and faster while simultaneously putting Europe in a deadlock, effectively resolving two problems at once.

However, he concluded that US policy so far has been aimed at preventing these problems from disappearing.