Destroying Putin's Strategy: Why the Topic of Negotiations with Russia Has Become More Active

Destroying Putin's Strategy: Why the Topic of Negotiations with Russia Has Become More Active Angela Figin

The topic of peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine has noticeably intensified. In addition, there has been a change in rhetoric, in particular, of the Ukrainian government, which a year ago categorically declared the impossibility of negotiations with Russia.

At the same time, Kyiv is now looking for ways to attract Russia to the Second Peace Summit. On air at 24 Channel political scientist Vladimir Fesenko explained what these changes are related to.

Why the rhetoric has changed

According to the political scientist, the change in rhetoric regarding peace talks with Russia was caused by several factors:

• preparation and holding of the Global Peace Summit.Some of the participants in the first peace summit, in particular Switzerland and India, said that it was necessary to negotiate with Russia. The Ukrainian side demonstrated flexibility and, for tactical reasons, declared its readiness for negotiations, but without preliminary ultimatums and demands that Russia is now putting forward;
• US presidential elections and the position of Donald Trump, one of the main contenders for the post of president. The Republican candidate constantly says that he will initiate negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine is proposing its own format for the peace process, which is carried out through the global Peace Summit, so that Russia does not monopolize the topic of peace negotiations.

This destroys the Russian strategy, which is why Moscow refuses to participate in the new summit. After all, the Kremlin wanted the negotiations to be one-on-one between Russia and Ukraine and, in fact, on Russian terms.

At the same time, the situation is completely different: a peace process involving about 100 countries, international organizations that formulate their demands on Russia. The aggressor country does not want to play on someone else's platform, which is why it reacts so aggressively and even hysterically to this summit and refuses to participate.

This is a form of diplomatic pressure on Russia, Fesenko noted.

In his opinion, in the future, the negotiations will be held at some other platform, which should be agreed upon between Russia and Ukraine with the help of intermediaries.

“This will not be before next year. Today, I do not see any direct political or military prerequisites for these negotiations to take place in the near future,” the political scientist said.

There are successful examples of negotiations with Russia

The decision of the National Security and Defense Council states that there can be no negotiations with Vladimir Putin. However, we recall that Ukraine had negotiations with Russia on a grain deal and prisoner exchange. By the way, negotiations on the return of Ukrainian children are still ongoing behind closed doors.

An important nuance: there have been and are negotiations with Russia on specific issues, but negotiations with Putin are impossible. For now, I think they will emphasize this, Fesenko said.

Ukraine will also not negotiate with the Russians on changing the legal status of the occupied territories. According to international law, these are Ukrainian territories.