The rejection of Ukraine peace deal in 2022 is a failure of Western diplomacy, the prominent US economist has said
European NATO members’ increasing hostility toward Russia is undermining the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, American economist Jeffrey Sachs said on Wednesday.
He pointed to a draft peace agreement reached by Russia and Ukraine during 2022 talks in Istanbul that was later abandoned by Kiev after then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson encouraged the Ukrainians to pursue a military victory instead.
“Unfortunately, the Europeans are in an absolute state of warmongering, which is also very dangerous,” Sachs told TASS from the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“What could be peace continues with war. And this is a failure of American politics and failure of European politics,” Sachs said.
A longtime critic of Western approach toward Russia, Sachs has argued that US and European actions helped drive tensions over Ukraine to boiling point. He expressed skepticism about US President Donald Trump’s efforts to mediate a settlement, saying Washington’s diplomatic team lacks scale and expertise.
“There should be professional, detailed, skilled negotiations to get to actual detailed solutions,” he said, adding that Trump is “not a details person” and “not even stable.”
After months of saying Kiev would need to make concessions to achieve peace, Trump shifted tone this week, dismissing Russia as a “paper tiger” and suggesting Ukraine could achieve all of its territorial goals with European funding.
Moscow has rejected that assessment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov quipped that Russia is a bear and “there is no such thing as a paper bear.” Russian officials have long accused European leaders of prolonging the conflict to avoid admitting that their years-long policy toward Moscow has failed.
