On August 18, US President Donald Trump commented on the crisis in Belarus. The comment was not too detailed. It appears that the development in Belarus does not interest the head of the United States too much, but the rank imposes obligations.
Here's how Trump commented on the current situation in Belarus:
"We are speaking to lots of people. We'll be speaking at the appropriate time to Russia and we'll be speaking to other people that are involved, but it's certainly a very big march," Trump said. "I like seeing democracy. Democracy is a very important word. It doesn't seem like there's too much democracy there in Belarus," he added.
In general, this is a rather vague statement, from which it is completely unclear when the "appropriate time" comes.
In an earlier comment, Trump called the situation in Belarus "terrible."
Subsequently, an anonymous spokesman for the American administration said that Russian President Vladimir Putin should respect the sovereignty of Belarus and "the right of its people to freely and fairly elect their leaders."
US Congress also did not stand aside. The statement from Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, and Michael McCaul, a senior Republican of this committee, were couched in the same vein with statements from the anonymous White House representative.
"As the Kremlin tries to undermine yet another European country's sovereignty and independence, we strongly condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin's reckless offer to provide military assistance to the Lukashenko regime in Belarus. We urge the Administration to continue to reject Moscow's aggression and to work with our European allies to support the Belarusian people," their statements reads.
Former US national security adviser John Bolton did not stand aside from the anti-Russian rhetoric in relation to the crisis in Belarus.
"The prospect of Russian intervention in Belarus is growing as Soviet holdover Lukashenko struggles to hold power. President Trump should make it clear that Vladimir Putin must stay out of Belarus - and out of our elections as well!" Bolton tweeted.
In light of the above-mentioned statements, it remains unclear when the "appropriate time" comes, of which Trump spoke. Is there anything that the USA can Russia should discuss about the current state of affairs in Belarus?