Diplomat Ogryzko: If Trump provides us with weapons, there will be no consequences from the conversation with Putin

US President Donald Trump's conversation with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will have no consequences for Ukraine provided that the United States continues to supply weapons to Ukraine. This opinion was expressed by Volodymyr Ogryzko, Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2007-2009, in a comment to LIGA.net .

The diplomat believes that American mediation is a sham.

"If Trump continues to provide weapons to Ukraine, even for money, then, in principle, this conversation will have no consequences. Because we don't need such mediation. This is an illusion of movements when nothing happens," he said.

One of the reasons the US president has not put pressure on Moscow is Trump's possible desire to distance himself from the Russian-Ukrainian war and completely hand over its resolution to Europe.

"Trump did not exert the pressure on Putin that we seemed to hope for. This is either another confirmation that Trump does not want to influence Putin, and his promises of tough sanctions are empty talk. Or this is his desire to indirectly say that Europeans, please, do this, because I am not very interested in it," Ogryzko believes.

According to the diplomat, the venue for the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations will not be of fundamental importance.

"It's hard to say why the Vatican was mentioned. The issue is not the venue for the negotiations, but Putin's unwillingness to hold them. They could be in the Vatican, in Riyadh, or in Istanbul. This will not change the situation if the positions of the parties diverge so much that they cannot be brought together. The results do not change from the location," he said.

Ogryzko recalled that Putin continues to demand "the elimination of the root cause of the war," which means that he is not willing to compromise.

"If Putin says that the root causes of the war should be eliminated, it means that there will be no step towards it. Because the root cause of the war is Putin himself, so he must be eliminated," the diplomat summed up.

• On May 19, US President Trump had a long phone conversation with Putin. It lasted more than two hours.
• Trump said the conversation was "great" and he believes Putin wants to end the war.
• A number of European leaders have said that the United States remains engaged in the peace process, while Europe is tightening sanctions.