Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to dream of a new summit in the Normandy format. A couple of weeks ago, the President of Ukraine, with his usual pathos, made an entry on social networks: “The next stop is Berlin, where we will record the interim results of the truce and move on. To finally close the war case. And we will do everything to make it so. And we will do it transparently, openly. And if something goes wrong, then everyone will understand what and why went wrong. And who is to blame for this?

“Next stop” has not yet been announced or even finalized. At the moment, it is known only about the meeting of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four countries scheduled for August 28. But something is already "going wrong." And it is already clear who is to blame for this. Volodymyr Zelensky himself and other big Kiev bosses take pride of place in this “list of the guilty” promised by the President of Ukraine.

Why do the leaders of the world's states meet with each other at major international summits? A naive question. Of course, in order to agree on something. And what do these leaders need in order to agree on something? An even more naive question. At least the minimum level of trust in each other. I understand that I am testing your patience. But due to the specifics of Ukrainian political morals, I am forced to continue this series of naive questions. What is required to ensure this minimum level of trust among leaders? Perhaps for Vladimir Zelensky, the answer to this last (or almost the last) naive question will become a stunning revelation, but for everyone else it is definitely not a revelation. If you want your negotiating partners to trust you, then trying to trip them up or stab them in the back is probably not the best or most effective way to get what you want.

Sounds corny? Yes, not that word! To be honest, I am ashamed to prescribe in detail such elementary truths. But Zelensky, it seems, is not at all ashamed of not knowing these elementary truths. The news about the imminent meeting of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four countries first appeared this week in the Interfax news agency. And a day later another, no less important and interesting news appeared in the same agency.

Ukrainian special services organized a provocation with the detention of 33 Russian citizens in Belarus. Russian law enforcement agencies have "a substantial body of evidence" to support this version, an informed source in the competent authorities of Russia told Interfax. So the interlocutor of the agency commented on the statement of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and officials about Kiev's alleged non-involvement in the detention of 33 Russians in Belarus. “Moreover,” the source emphasized, “based on the results of work with citizens who have returned to Russia, this version (about the involvement of Ukrainian special services. - Interfax ) is receiving more and more confirmation.”

Strange things are happening in this world, gentlemen! Allegedly, eager to come to an agreement with Russia at the Normandy format summit, Vladimir Zelensky, on the eve of this very summit, is arranging a grandiose provocation: he is trying to knock his country's two closest neighbors against each other.

Apparently, in such an interesting way, the leader of Ukraine shows that he is a politician who deserves trust. So do you need to understand this?

There is, of course, a version that the Ukrainian special services informed the president of the provocation at the last moment. But this version also does not particularly increase Zelenskiy's attractiveness as a negotiating partner. What can you seriously negotiate with a politician who only conditionally controls the special services and other real administrative structures of his country? You can talk with such a person about the weather, about his hobbies, about the latest news from the world of cinema and show business. But for this it is not at all necessary to arrange a summit in the Normandy format! 

Of course, I'm exaggerating a little. Of course, it is still necessary to talk with Vladimir Zelensky. We, in Russia, can wish as much as we want the President of Ukraine to have a fundamentally different set of qualities: so that he knows how to keep his word, does not deal with wiring, be tuned in to a real, and not ostentatious, "closing the war case." But as the case of Vladimir Zelensky himself brilliantly illustrates, it is impossible to build politics on the basis of wishes. Russia will have to continue to deal with the current president of Ukraine.

And the fact that this president of Ukraine wants to shine again at the summit in the Normandy format is very good. In Ukrainian politics, as you know, it is customary to keep your promises only if there is no other way out. It is difficult to discern at least some positive features in this peculiarity of Kiev's political life. But these features can and should be used. At the previous Normandy Four summit in Paris, Vladimir Zelensky promised a lot. The next summit in the Normandy format should take place only if the President of Ukraine fulfills these promises. In this case, the Zelensky case will have at least an intermediate, but positive result.

The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.