In light of the Russia-Ukraine standoff in the Kerch Strait, James Stavridis, a retired US Navy Admiral and former military commander of NATO, penned an article for Time to call on President Donald Trump to ‘strongly affirm’ US support for Kiev ‘in every dimension, including providing them with capable defensive armament’.
‘Most of all, the President ought to make the point that it is in no one’s interest to stumble backward into a full-blown Cold War, let alone have an actual war inside Ukraine. Perhaps by appealing to Putin’s pragmatic side, we can defuse this crisis before it spirals into something we cannot control’, he wrote.
Stavridis claims that Russia needed to ensure communications between the mainland and the peninsula, which implies establishing control of the Kerch Strait located between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The former NATO commander noted that President Trump planned to hold a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the side-lines of this week’s G20 summit:
‘For the Trump Administration, though, this will be another testing point in its notably odd relationship with Russia…’ he wrote, at the same citing ‘a strong stand’ that Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and National Security Adviser John Bolton had taken against what he called ‘Russian bad behaviour’.
Stavridis further wrote that while the US has ‘correctly’ pushed for sanctions following Crimea’s reunification with Russia, President Trump has much to catch up on, and the upcoming meeting with Putin lays grounds to reassess his stance.
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The retired admiral went on to accuse Russia of violating international law in its relations with Ukraine, claiming that sanctions will remain in effect until Moscow ‘modifies its stance’:
‘The President must show zero daylight between the US and our NATO and European allies on this issue, or Putin will exploit the seams to continue toward achieving his ultimate strategic goal of unraveling the trans-Atlantic alliance’, Stavridis penned.
Earlier in the day, President Trump said that he might call off his envisaged meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina in wake of the naval incident in the Kerch Strait.
The ships ignored Russia’s demands to leave the area and proceeded to make ‘dangerous manoeuvres’, thus prompting the Russian side to open fire and eventually seize the ships.
Moscow has described the incident as a provocation in violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and pledged to suppress any attempts to challenge its territorial integrity and sovereignty.