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Peace negotiations could resume within two to three months, once the active phase of the Russian offensive winds down and Ukraine’s long-range sanctions begin to bite, according to Serhii Leshchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Office of the President, speaking during a television broadcast, as reported by UATV English.
“Right now we’re seeing a lull [in the negotiation process], but once the active phase ends, and it will end in the next two to three months, when the weather on the front lines begins to deteriorate, I think that this willingness [on the part of the Russians to negotiate] will return,” Leshchenko said.
He added that by that point, Ukraine’s long-range strikes will have started producing real economic effects. “You see, first their oil refineries were burning, then logistics warehouses belonging to major retailers like Wildberries began to explode, and then their shadow fleet started burning. In other words, their economy must feel this blow, and, strictly speaking, society must also feel it and understand that if it doesn’t start bringing Putin himself to his senses, then things will only get worse for them, the Russians themselves, because of him,” he said.
Leshchenko also said Russian forces are currently trying to seize Donetsk region in pursuit of the goals Putin outlined in Anchorage, but without success. “Putin wants to continue killing Ukrainians and advancing through the Donetsk region, but he’s not succeeding because the front line is moving forward only in small increments in some places, and in others is even retreating under the pressure of Ukrainian counteroffensives. So this is a very difficult dilemma for Putin, given that he cannot achieve the goals he declared to Trump in Anchorage a year ago. And that means he is now forced to keep lying and saying, ‘It’s coming, it’s coming right now,'” he added.
As previously reported, the most recent round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US, and Russia took place in Geneva on February 17–18.
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