Today at 18:58
The Kremlin spoke about negotiations with Ukraine against the backdrop of a counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU) in eastern Ukraine. And with each new defeat of the Russian army at the front, the conversations became louder and more insistent. First, the Kremlin put forward ultimatums, essentially demanding the surrender of Ukraine. But after the so-called “referendums” in the occupied regions and the illegal inclusion of the territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions into Russia, Kyiv declared that negotiations were out of the question as long as Vladimir Putin is at the head of the Kremlin, FREEDOM reports.
Russia demonstrated its real intentions not to establish peace, but to destroy Ukraine by rocket attacks on residential buildings that claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians, the Ukrainian authorities are sure.
“Does a terrorist state want peace? Obviously not. It proves it every day and every night. Zaporizhia, against which Russia directs its missile terror… This night, as a result of Russian attacks on ordinary residential buildings in Zaporizhia, at least 14 people were killed. When someone wants negotiations, they don’t do that,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
But the Kremlin has a peculiar logic. In the morning they talk about peace talks, in the afternoon they launch rockets into residential areas and critical infrastructure.
“President Putin is stepping up the bombing of Ukrainian infrastructure, which shows that he has no genuine interest in negotiations or meaningful diplomacy. Instead, he is trying to break the will of Ukrainians to fight by dropping bombs on them and making them freeze to force them into submission. But he will not succeed, because Ukraine is fighting for its freedom, for the future of its children. And we will do everything in our power to help keep hope alive in Ukraine,” said US Representative to the UN Lisa Carty.
Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War believe that Russia is trying to extract preemptive concessions from the West with its talks. In particular, the reduction of financial and military assistance to Ukraine, the recognition of Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories and restrictions on NATO and Western military operations in Europe. In addition, Russia uses any truce to build up forces for a new strike.
“The Russians are trying to find a false way out. I mean this: let’s cease-fire, freeze everything as it is, freezes the conflict, and never negotiate over the territory that they have captured and continue to hold. Rest, retrain and attack again. There is always a way out, and it is very simple. President Putin started this war and he can end it tomorrow,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
“We want peace. Ukrainians want peace. The transatlantic community wants peace. What we don’t want is pauses, because if there is a pause instead of peace, President Putin will use that pause to re-equip, re-equip, regroup and, in all likelihood, return to Ukraine with new revenge. And this is not in the interests of a just world. This is certainly not in the interest of lasting peace,” said Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department.
Despite a clear message from the civilized world that negotiations are impossible until Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine and abandons its imperial plans. The Kremlin needs negotiations. The Kremlin needs at least talk of negotiations for the domestic consumer. To demonstrate that someone else is considering Russia in the international arena.
