HASSAN EL-TAYYAB, hassan@fcnl.org, @HassanElTayyab
While most reporters at the White House have pressed the administration to be more hawkish on Ukraine, Ryan Grim of the The Intercept asked the White House what role it was playing to promote negotiations. “One of the steps we’ve taken — a significant one — is to be the largest provider of military and humanitarian and economic assistance in the world, to put them in a greater position of strength as they go into these negotiations,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Grim’s piece in The Intercept, “Will the United States Empower Zelenskyy to Negotiate an End to the War?” extensively quotes El-Tayyab, legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation: “The United States is in a punishment mindset with regards to Russia and it needs to quickly transition to a more balanced, diplomacy-based approach, that includes clear incentives, off-ramps for sanctions, and a realistic pathway to a ceasefire. While only Ukraine and Russia can ultimately decide the framework for a negotiated settlement, the United States can help talks by signaling it would support a deal that ends the conflict and meaningfully preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
El-Tayyab added: “If the Biden administration shows it’s willing to lift sanctions if peace talks are successful, and champions possibilities for compromise as they emerge, it can positively contribute to ending the conflict and suffering of millions of innocent Ukrainians.”
El-Tayyab has worked extensively to end the Saudi bombing of Yemen. Jeremy Scahill summarizes information from the Yemen Data Project: “Over the past four months, the U.S.-armed and supported Saudi regime has engaged in its most sustained period of heavy bombing of Yemen since 2018. Since 2015, air strikes/air raids have killed at least 8,900 civilians.” Despite campaign promises to the contrary, the Biden administration is continuing to arm the Saudis as they escalate their bombing. See El-Tayyab’s latest piece “Lawmakers take action on Biden’s failed Yemen policy.”
