Ukraine war not affect U.S stance in Vienna talks; Expert
"The conflict in Ukraine will not affect the American stance in the Vienna talks," a Professor of Political Science and Director of Security Studies at the University of Akron told ILNA.
In an exclusive interview with ILNA news agency, the U.S Professor Karl Kaltenthaler said "I believe the bigger issue is how the US reaction to the Russian invasion might affect Iranian calculations."
"There is some speculation among some U.S. analysts that the U.S. refusal to deploy troops to Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion will be interpreted as American weakness and could lead the Iranian leadership to take a tougher stance in the negotiations. I think that is probably unlikely."
He added that the basic interests of both sides remain the same and both sides want a deal. A deal seems very close, but there are difficult final details to work out.
Answering to Question about why the West and the United States were not taking serious action against the Russian invasion, the U.S Professor said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a clear breach of the United Nations charter. It should be and has been condemned by many international institutions.
"This was a completely unprovoked attack on Ukraine and the Russian leadership has been going to absurd ends to try to justify it. The reason for the invasion seems to lie primarily in Putin’s obsession with the loss of Russia’s stature since the fall of the Soviet Union. Rather than returning Russia to the ranks of great powers, this invasion will have the opposite effect and make Russia and its allies pariah states," he confirmed.
Kaltenthaler pointed to the western sanctions against Russia and added that another important role that United States has played is to help coordinate and lead the response of the Western democracies against the Russian invasion."
"Russia also has a certain degree of Chinese support in the UN, although China is trying not to be tied directly to Russian actions in Ukraine".
The U.S analyst stressed "There is grave concern that China will take the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a positive example of grabbing territory they think should belongs to them, like Taiwan. Unfortunately, tensions around the globe will be elevated for quite some time due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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