"India can talk to both Russia and Ukraine, Washington cannot": Terril Jones

New Delhi [India], September 6 (ANI): Terril Jones, a leading American professor and a journalist for 40 years, highlighted how India is in a unique position to bring to an end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite the United States’ repeated attempts at getting the two parties to terms.

In a conversation with ANI, Terril Jones said that while the United States has been able to maintain communication with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the dialogue has not been ideal. He also noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin “can be very stubborn,” and highlighted the potential role India could play in helping to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

“The United States can talk to Zelenskyy, although obviously it has sometimes been acrimonious, and they can talk to Putin, but Putin can be very stubborn and maybe nothing will come out of these things. And so, you know, India is in a position where it can speak to both and get the ear of both leaders, in a way that other major countries can’t…. so when you have a large country that can play the role of a mediator, then that may be a logical way to go”, he said.

“I don’t have a sense that Prime Minister Modi or the Indian government wants to emphasise that, but that also could be some leverage. And, you know, wouldn’t it be rather amazing if Prime Minister Modi was the one who was able to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine? And he’s the one who wins the Nobel Peace Prize”, Jones said.

Furthermore, when asked about the meeting between the US and Russia and whether US President Trump had overpromised the Alaska summit, and about his mission for peace, Jones said that Trump had expected more.

“He thought he could get some kind of resolution or at least commitment from Vladimir Putin just by sitting down with him because that’s how he has sort of carried out his career,” Jones said.

He highlighted how, as a businessman, Trump thought that negotiating with people by meeting them face-to-face would work things out and bring about a result.

“That works more in business than it does in politics, especially when there’s so much at stake, such as a war over an entire country”, Jones said and highlighted Trump’s past meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

“Three meetings with him; there were over expectations and in the end, nothing really came from those. So, he’s not a politician or has diplomatic experience. He doesn’t see how things are traditionally done with very long negotiations at a lower level until there is actually a result that the top levels can meet and agree upon,” he said.

Elaborating further, he gave the examples of summits like G7 and any bilateral saying, “The two leaders don’t come with notebooks of we’re going to negotiate about this. They come with issues that people and responsible individuals have already negotiated at lower levels. So yeah, I think Alaska was a disappointment to him and to Americans also.”

Terril Jones has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, with 18 years spent overseas in Japan, China, and France, and the rest of the time in the United States, including at the United Nations in New York, Detroit for the auto industry, and Silicon Valley for covering technology. He is presently teaching international journalism. (ANI)

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