“They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize,” Donald Trump complained the other day. “I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.” He has coveted the prize since it was bestowed on Barack Obama in 2009. And the talks with Russia underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which he convened to end the Ukraine war, may be a gambit to put him in the running. Top officials in his administration point to his efforts as proof that he deserves the honour.
So far, the talks have produced provisional agreements that favour Russia. Consider the one to end attacks by Russia and Ukraine on each other’s ships in the Black Sea (so that grain and other food products can be exported without risk). At first, it seemed a revival of the accord Turkey and the UN brokered in July 2022, and that Russia backed out of 12 months later.
Author
Events on Europe and Eurasia
