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Opinion
July 27, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 22
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If only US President Donald Trump spoke Russian he would know that he has given Vladimir Putin one of the biggest presents he could. The reaction to the two presidents’ meeting in the Russian media was somewhere close to the French euphoria over their team’s victory in the World Cup. No matter what Russians say, they always sought recognition from the West. Trump has given plenty of it to Putin.
The meeting raised many eyebrows even before it took place. The expectations grew even higher after Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian agents for interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Ukraine, for example, was particularly nervous before the summit, mostly because of Trump’s earlier remarks about a possible change of the US position towards Crimea. The two presidents didn't speak much about Ukraine, but it didn't bring relief to Ukrainians.
Ukraine was mentioned in the context of the implementation of the Minsk agreement, Nord Stream II and Ukraine's status as a transit country, and the annexation of Crimea. Probably the most notable moment for Ukrainians was when Putin answered a question about Crimea. "President Trump's position on the Crimea is known, he sticks to it, speaks of the illegality of the Crimea's annexation. We have a different point of view, we believe that we have conducted
a referendum [italics added] in strict conformity with international law and the UN Charter. For us, this issue is closed,” Putin said. Putin and other
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Russian officials have for a long time denied any Russian involvement in the Crimean annexation. The staged referendum that was supposed to legitimise the Russian takeover of the peninsula was always described as the genuine will of the locals.
Standing next to the American president, Putin claimed that "they", meaning Russia, conducted the referendum. In fact, that is the confirmation of all the previous allegations against Russia. They initiated a military operation, took over
the territory, conducted a staged "referendum" and annexed the territory of Ukraine. True, the international community has largely refused to recognise the annexation of Crimea and some states imposed sanctions on Russia, including the US. And now Vladimir Putin is standing next to the American president and saying Russia conducted a referendum in Crimea. Trump stands with a poker face.
Some commentators took the fact that Ukraine wasn't much discussed by the two presidents with little enthusiasm. According to them, it means that Ukraine is disappearing from the top agenda of world leaders and there will be less and less interest in Ukrainian affairs. Which means that Ukraine will be even more exposed to hostile Russian actions, knowing that Russian interference in Ukraine won't go away. That is
a gloomy scenario and it, of course, is possible. However, what is more important for Ukraine is not its presence in the closing remarks but