As the two nations engaged in their first direct discussions since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Russia questioned Ukrainian sovereignty and undermined its president’s authority.
On May 15, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, arrived in Istanbul for the discussions that his Russian counterpart had suggested a few days earlier. His foreign and defense ministers accompanied him.
However, neither his cabinet nor Russian President Vladimir Putin showed up. He sent a junior delegation without the authority to sign a ceasefire, led by Rodion Miroshnik, the ambassador at large.
However, Russia’s sour tones threaten the Ukrainian team’s legitimacy.
According to Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, the delegation is waiting for Zelenskyy to speak out, for the hallucinogens to end, and for him to finally allow those who have been barred from negotiations for three years to sit down at the table.
On May 16, the day of the talks, Russian lead negotiator Rodion Miroshnik said, “We examined Ukrainian legislation, and we believe that Zelenskyy’s authority as the legitimate leader of the country has expired.”
He made mention of Zelenskyy’s failure to hold a presidential election the previous year. In a time of national crisis, Zelenskyy can remain in office, and the Ukrainian parliament extended Zelenskyy’s term until the end of martial law. However, Zelenskyy was portrayed as illegitimate by Russian officials by the extension.
There is a chance that legally binding agreements that have been reached and signed are disregarded, according to Miroshnik.
The day after the talks, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, declared that “the most crucial and fundamental thing for us still is who exactly will sign these documents on the Ukrainian side.”
However, it’s thought that Moscow is laying the groundwork for any compromise given Russia’s position.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, wrote, “This rhetorical campaign is part of efforts to make conditions for Russia to withdraw from any upcoming peace agreements at a time of its choosing.”
What was proposed by the two sides?
Following a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, Ukraine suggested a ceasefire.
Russia rejected both demands, instead proposing a one-million-per-mission ceasefire proposal, followed by a written submission of the proposals in writing.
Vladimir Medinsky, a member of the negotiating team and a negotiating aide, said, “We agreed that each side would outline its vision of a possible future ceasefire and lay it out in detail.”
Russia predicts that the conflict will continue in its favor.
Russian forces launched assaults in the east of Ukraine near Pokrovsk and Toretsk during the talks, taking some territory.
Russia’s largest war barrage, 273 drones, were launched on Ukraine’s cities on Saturday night.
Additionally, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed on Monday that it had taken control of both Donetsk’s Maryino and Novoolenovka settlements.
Moscow has responded to Kyiv’s request for a ceasefire by repressing talks without conditions, as it has reportedly done on Friday.
According to sources with knowledge of the proceedings, the Russian delegation demanded that the four provinces Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, which Russia partially occupies, be given over in their entirety.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, asserted that all four regions that Russia invaded in 2022 were governed by Russian law.
They then addressed us with a request to join the Russian Federation after declaring themselves to be the subjects of international law following referendums. Therefore, everything is in order here from the perspective of international law, he said on Tuesday at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.
According to Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma’s committee on international affairs, it appeared that Russia was trying to impose yet another condition on a second round of discussions, which should lead to an agreement on Ukraine’s non-aligned status.
Putin included the four regions’ surrenders in a speech last June, as well as neutrality, an accord that will never join NATO and the European Union.
Zakharova confirmed that those delegations’ discussions still had Russian objectives as they resumed on Monday.
Trump: A capable negotiator?
Following a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday, Putin gave the timeline.
Russia and the Ukrainian side have agreed to work together on a memorandum on a potential future peace treaty that lists a number of positions, including a potential ceasefire for a predetermined amount of time, as well as settlement principles, the signing of a potential peace agreement, and so on, according to Putin, who spoke to reporters.
Putin visited Kursk for the first time since Russian forces reclaimed it following an Ukrainian counterinvasion, calling Ukrainians Neonazis for destroying World War II monuments and “idiots” who “would come second in a contest of idiots.”
Trump urged Zelenskyy to meet with Trump.
They “touched the issue of direct contact,” Peskov said, downplaying the demand.
“It is crucial that America continues to play a role in the effort to bring peace closer. In his Tuesday evening address, Zelenskyy said, “It is America that Russia fears, and American influence can save many lives if used as a means to get Putin to end the war.”
Others were skeptical that Trump’s negotiations would lead to a positive outcome for Ukraine, though.
Bridget Brink, the US’s former ambassador to Kyiv, explained on Monday why she left her position last month.
Because the Trump administration’s policy has always been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than the aggressor, Russia, she told CBS’s Face the Nation. “I resigned from Ukraine and also from the foreign service. “Peace at any price is not peace at all,” the saying goes. It’s a form of appeasement. And, as we all know from history, appeasement only leads to more war.
Despite Ukraine’s allies’ demands for a tougher line against Russia, Europe, Canada, and Australia remain the top contenders.
On Monday, the 17th EU sanctions package became effective, limiting the movement of 189 tankers deemed to be smugglers of Russian oil and increasing the total number of tankers in force. Additionally, the EU imposed sanctions on 28 Russian judges who violated human rights and Russian arms manufacturers.
Source: Aljazeera
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