Kiev will not allow reaching any agreements on Ukraine in any format without its direct participation.

On the eve of the summit of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, this was stated by the head of the republic's foreign ministry Dmitry Kuleba.

“... An absolutely ironclad rule that we are implementing: no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine ... Therefore, I absolutely do not care that President Biden will speak with President Putin.

But we will not allow and will not accept any agreements reached in any format regarding Ukraine behind our back, without us.

This is a tough and principled position, "RIA Novosti quotes Kuleba as saying.

At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine also said that at the end of July, a meeting of Zelensky and Biden will take place in Washington as part of the official visit of the President of Ukraine to the United States.

According to Kuleba, this summit will contain a broad agenda and Kiev will send a large delegation.

“We have already begun to prepare it, we are already working on the key elements of the program.

And most importantly, we are already working on key agreements, ”the Ukrainian diplomat said.

Let us remind you that the meeting of the presidents of the United States and Russia will take place in Geneva on June 16 at the initiative of the American side.

The Kremlin clarified that it will discuss relations between the two countries, strategic stability, the settlement of regional conflicts and the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The previous summit of Moscow and Washington at the level of heads of state was held in 2018 in Helsinki.

Different agendas

Political analysts draw attention to the fact that Kuleba's statement was preceded by incidents in which the Ukrainian interpretation of a number of issues on the foreign policy agenda differed markedly from the position of the United States.

Thus, following the telephone conversation between Biden and Zelensky, the Ukrainian side issued a statement in which it was said that the head of the White House "stressed the importance of providing Ukraine with an action plan for NATO membership."

Later, the Axios edition, citing a statement by a representative of the National Security Council, reported that such an interpretation of the words of the US President was incorrect.

“Ukraine incorrectly transmitted the statement and corrected the record,” the American politician noted.

Later, the statement of the Ukrainian side was edited, and from there the mention of the prospects of Kiev's membership in NATO disappeared.

In addition, the Biden administration changed its mind about organizing a meeting with Zelensky prior to the June 16 summit, which the President of Ukraine announced its readiness for.

At the end of May, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevgeny Yenin announced Zelensky's intention to meet with Biden before the summit in Geneva.

The head of the Kiev delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass Leonid Kravchuk also spoke about the need for Ukrainian-American negotiations at the highest level before the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden.

“I would like Biden to speak on the phone with at least President Zelensky before the meeting between Putin and Biden.

I understand that during this meeting the topic of Ukraine will be present.

And since she will be present, then no one better than Zelensky knows what is happening in Ukraine and in the Donbass.

And of course, the information Zelensky gave to Biden could be very useful in a conversation between the US President and Putin, ”Kravchuk said, noting that such a conversation could also be held over the phone.

Zelensky himself said that he was ready to meet with his American counterpart "at any time and anywhere on the planet."

However, media later reported that the Biden administration had refused to meet with Zelenskiy ahead of the US-Russian summit.

It was also clarified that initially such a possibility was really considered, but as a result it was rejected due to the decision of the President of Ukraine to change the leadership of the state energy company Naftogaz.

The same Axios portal, citing sources in the White House, wrote that the White House regarded this step as Kiev's refusal to fight corruption.

  • The White house

  • © REUTERS / Sarah Silbiger

However, analysts point out that, despite some political differences, the United States continues to support Ukraine.

So, the official representative of the American military department, John Kirby, announced yesterday that the Pentagon will send Kiev a new package of military assistance in the amount of $ 150 million.

“The package includes features such as two anti-artillery radars, several anti-UAV systems and secure communications.

It will complement the $ 125 million package announced back in March.

This package was made possible after the US Department of Defense, in cooperation with the Department of State, was able to ensure that Ukraine has made sufficient progress in implementing defense reforms this year, as required by the National Defense Budget Act, Kirby said. at a press briefing.

He recalled that since 2014, the United States has spent more than $ 2.5 billion on providing assistance to Ukraine "in the field of security."

“We will continue to strengthen our strategic defense partnership, including through the provision of lethal defense assistance,” Kirby said.

Broken agreements

At the same time, despite the declared "concern" about possible agreements "on Ukraine" between Moscow and Washington, Kiev continues to take steps to destabilize the situation in the east of the country, experts say.

So, on the eve of the People's Militia of the LPR reported the death of five employees as a result of an attack by a sabotage group of Ukrainian security forces.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces denied the accusations, however, according to the head of the unrecognized republic, Leonid Pasechnik, the saboteurs were specially trained professionals.

  • Employees of the DPR military commandant's office at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city of Horlivka

  • RIA News

  • © Valery Melnikov

In addition, he expressed confidence that the provocation was approved and planned by Kiev on the eve of the meeting between Putin and Biden.

Because of the incident, Leonid Pasechnik interrupted his visit to Russia.

“Due to the current situation ... I have to interrupt my trip to the fraternal state and return to the capital of the republic,” he said.

In turn, the chairman of the LPR parliament Denis Miroshnichenko regarded the incident as an attempt by Ukraine to aggravate the situation, thereby drawing the attention of the West.

“What happened yesterday is another attempt by Kiev on the eve of the meeting of world leaders to exacerbate the situation and draw attention to itself, since Ukraine is now becoming not interesting for their Western partners,” RIA Novosti quoted Miroshnichenko as saying.

Miroshnichenko called the death of the People's Militia of the LPR a tragedy.

“This is a disaster.

These are our guys, these are our lives.

Unfortunately, we must go through this and move on.

And the fact that Ukraine is a political corpse that will simply decompose over time is understandable, and the change in the mood of their curators, who are sitting in Washington, is a confirmation of this, ”the LPR parliamentary chairman stressed.

Commenting on the latest foreign policy statements of the Ukrainian authorities, as well as information about the involvement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the next provocation in Donbass, analysts note that Kiev "clearly overestimates its ability to directly influence the agenda of bilateral relations between the United States and Russia."

“It is unclear why Kuleba decided that he had any leverage over the upcoming decisions of the United States and Russia.

Undoubtedly, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden will discuss topics related to Ukraine at the next summit, so this rhetoric is more likely aimed at the population of the republic, ”political scientist and economist Oleksandr Dudchak said.

According to him, Kiev's statements about any agreements not agreed with it are inappropriate, since the Ukrainian side is actively sabotaging the Minsk agreements and is trying in every possible way to refuse to fulfill them.

At the same time, the Biden administration, having canceled the meeting with Zelensky before the summit in Geneva, demonstrates its unwillingness to bring tension before the meeting of the leaders of the United States and the Russian Federation, Alexander Dudchak said.

“I am sure that the upcoming dialogue will be able to influence the course of various global processes, including the development of the conflict in Donbass,” the political scientist noted.

  • Villa La Grange in Geneva

  • © REUTERS / Denis Balibouse

Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin in an interview with RT also suggested that Kuleba's statement about some upcoming agreements on Ukraine was directed primarily at citizens of the republic.

“This has recently been the traditional style of Ukrainian diplomacy, which is not working to really reach some agreements, compromises, but to tune the public and the media in the right way.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is well aware that these statements are impracticable or rather far from reality, ”concluded Zharikhin.