By Juliana Vasquez | Staff Writer
The weekend of Aug. 15, Baylor students prepared to return to class and start out the semester. But while the Bears ordered books and moved into dorms, President Donald Trump was meeting with Russian and Ukrainian representatives.
On Aug. 15, Russia and the U.S. attended a summit in Alaska to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war. On Aug. 17, Ukraine, the U.S. and European leaders met again to discuss the same topic.
According to Dr. David Bridge, associate professor of political science, said both meetings were big steps in the current European conflict.
“It’s hard to overstate the symbolism of heads of state visiting the United States … and it’s not very common for Russian dignitaries to come to the U.S.,” Bridge said.
According to Bridge, Trump switches strategies from the approach of the Biden Administration. Instead of targeting Russia through sanctions incentivizing Russian concessions, Trump weakened the pressure on Russia and attempts to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly.
Dr. Sergiy Kudelia, professor of political science, is a Ukrainian native. According to Kudelia, Trump chose a different angle after seeing the conflict continue through former U.S. President Joe Biden’s leadership.
“Trump has said that the strategy has not worked in the last three years. He said, ‘we will change that and speak to the Russian leader directly in order to hear what his demands are and understand them better,’” Kudelia said.
As talk of peace continues, though, the conflict has the potential to impact Baylor consumers. According to Dr. Hannah Stolze, William E. Crenshaw chair of supply chain management, some of the price spikes consumers see can be traced back to the war.
Although the war seems like it could be worlds away, it impacts Baylor students in a more personal way than most generally assume — particularly in the grocery store runs, Stolze said.
“If the cost of fuel goes up, the cost of electric vehicles goes up or the cost of production [itself] goes up, it gets exacerbated throughout every step of the supply chain,” Stolze said.
The instability created by the Russia-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe has impacted American consumers in more ways than just international relations, most notably in the prices of products at the grocery store or gas station. Ukraine and Russia are large exporters of the world’s wheat, corn, sunflower oil and fertilizer. According to Stolze, both Ukraine and Russia are also major distributors of natural gas and oil, which affects Waco gas prices.
“So if natural gas and oil become more expensive for Europe, guess what? Supply goes down, which means prices go up, and the prices are also going up for the U.S. as well. We are intertwined globally with the resources that are available, and we want access to them,” Stolze said.
Trump has been vying for a peace deal since he was on the campaign trail in 2024, when he said he could end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. According to Kudelia, we still have a long way to go before peace can be reached, but peace is not impossible.
“I think with more language and more use of leverage, we can ultimately bring all three leaders to the same table,” Kudelia said.
