TRIŠIĆ BABIĆ: SUPPORT FOR THE PUTIN-TRUMP AGREEMENT DEMONSTRATES ESSENCE OF SERIOUS AND RESPONSIBLE DIPLOMACY

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 10 /SRNA/ – Ana Trišić Babić, Acting Head of the Republika Srpska International Cooperation Office, welcomed the agreement between Russian and US leaders Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the supply of Russian diesel to the US and global markets.

She stressed that, at a time of heightened international tensions, any agreement that creates opportunities for economic cooperation and stability deserves attention and support. "President Trump demonstrates how important it is for politics to remain connected to people’s real needs. When it is necessary to protect the interests of American citizens, farmers, and the economy, people talk, negotiate, and seek solutions - even with those with whom they currently have major political differences. This is precisely where I recognize the essence of serious and responsible diplomacy," Trišić Babić poyted on X. However, she added, it is interesting to view this development from a European perspective, particularly considering the number of political lessons that have been directed at Republika Srpska in recent years because of its simultaneous relations with Russia and the United States. "I deliberately mention the United States. While Republika Srpska develops relations with America as a state, respecting its political system, institutions, and democratically elected representatives, official Sarajevo persistently seeks to take sides in and interfere with America’s internal political affairs. It is as though only the America that suits their political and ideological expectations exists," Trišić Babić emphasized. She added that "this is particularly evident in their attitude towards President Trump and the Republicans, whom they still seem to view through the lens of their own unitarist expectations, more precisely, their unfulfilled expectations." "At the same time, certain European political circles, official Sarajevo in particular, have sought to turn our relations with Moscow into a question of political acceptability. They have persistently looked for problems in Republika Srpska’s international contacts, often burdened by their own political ambitions and unitarist views of BiH," Trišić Babić stated. However, she stressed, Republika Srpska approaches diplomacy from a different perspective. "Republika Srpska engages in dialogue both in Washington and in Moscow. We have friends and interlocutors in both power centres with whom we are building relations based on mutual respect and understanding. We do not believe that cooperation with one side requires hostility towards the other, nor that we should subordinate our own interests to other people’s political divisions," Trišić Babić said. She noted that, as someone who has worked in international relations for many years, she knows well that diplomacy is most necessary precisely when deep political differences exist. According to her, major powers understand this, even when their mutual relations are burdened by some of the most serious challenges of the past several decades. "That is why it is somewhat unusual that a dialogue regarded in Washington and Moscow as an expression of political responsibility is often portrayed by Sarajevo as a political offence when it comes to Republika Srpska," Trišić Babić emphasized. She added that the agreement does not mean that differences between the United States and Russia have disappeared. "But it demonstrates that, even amid serious international challenges, there is room to identify shared interests and reach concrete agreements. That is why I once again welcome and support the agreement between Presidents Trump and Putin. Republika Srpska seeks to build its international relations on precisely this understanding of diplomacy, looking for opportunities for cooperation and agreement despite all differences," Trišić Babić stressed. She stated that diplomacy does not prove its worth through the people with whom we refuse to talk, but through what we are capable of achieving by talking.