A new round of tripartite talks between Russia, the US, and Ukraine began this afternoon in Abu Dhabi, UAE, after a lapse of nine months. Earlier, it was observed that part of the motivation for the US to push for a new round of tripartite talks was to serve the midterm elections. Now that the dust has settled in the US midterm elections and the Republican Party lost the election, why is the US still advancing the talks? What new restrictions are they facing? Chen Yu, deputy director of the Eurasian Research Institute of the China Institute of Modern International Relations, analyzed that although US President Trump may face major domestic policy constraints in the future, foreign policy is less constrained by Congress. In the past, after losing the midterm elections, many US presidents invested their resources and energy in the field of diplomacy, leaving behind a so-called “political legacy.” However, Trump has made resolving the Russian-Ukrainian issue a major diplomatic matter. Currently, there is less than a two-month window until the new US Congress takes office. He is anxious to show visible results on the Russian-Ukrainian issue before the new Congress takes office. If you wait for the Democratic Party to take power in the National Assembly and then want to advance negotiations, it won't be that easy.

A new round of tripartite talks between Russia, the US, and Ukraine began this afternoon in Abu Dhabi, UAE, after a lapse of nine months. Earlier, it was observed that part of the motivation for the US to push for a new round of tripartite talks was to serve the midterm elections. Now that the dust has settled in the US midterm elections and the Republican Party lost the election, why is the US still advancing the talks? What new restrictions are they facing? Chen Yu, deputy director of the Eurasian Research Institute of the China Institute of Modern International Relations, analyzed that although US President Trump may face major domestic policy constraints in the future, foreign policy is less constrained by Congress. In the past, after losing the midterm elections, many US presidents invested their resources and energy in the field of diplomacy, leaving behind a so-called “political legacy.” However, Trump has made resolving the Russian-Ukrainian issue a major diplomatic matter. Currently, there is less than a two-month window until the new US Congress takes office. He is eager to show visible results on the Russian-Ukrainian issue before the new Congress takes office. If you wait for the Democratic Party to take power in the National Assembly and want to advance negotiations at that time, it won't be that easy.