The US should "cut a deal" and seek detente with Russia to prevent a Third World War, which would provide a baseline for world peace, American billionaire investor David Sacks told a gala for the Republican think-tank American Moment in Washington.
During the speech, the 51-year-old also made the case that the US’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict has finally proved to be a failure. He blamed Washington for prolonging the standoff and slapping sanctions on Russia.
"The idea that sanctions are working is totally delusional. The Russian economy stabilized and even outperformed G7 economies in 2023," the venture capitalist stressed.
Sacks insisted that a "real victim" of the sanctions was Europe, adding that the population of the continent "has realized that this [NATO's proxy] war [with Russia] is not in their interests."
Citing the asymmetric cost of artillery shell production, the size of the Russian military versus that of Ukraine, and the big gap in "war enthusiasm" in the two countries, the entrepreneur concluded that "while seeking to weaken Russia we [the West] only weaken ourselves."
As far as "a baseline" for peace is concerned, Russia has repeatedly signaled readiness for talks, but the Kiev regime introduced a legislative ban on them after torpedoing the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul at then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s behest. The West turns a blind eye to Ukraine's constant refusals to engage in dialogue, he continued.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has stated numerous times that Russia was, is and will continue to be open for negotiations on Ukraine."
"We are determined to reach our goals. And would prefer to complete it by diplomatic means. If not, the special military operation will be continued till we reach our goals," Peskov emphasized.
Putin, for his part, has said that if Ukraine wants a negotiation process, performative gestures are not the way and that it is necessary to scrap Kiev’s decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia. Moscow has never been against the settlement of the Ukraine conflict by peaceful means, but insists on the observance of Russia’s security guarantees, according to the Russian president.