“They put forward deliberately unacceptable conditions”: why the West and Kyiv continue to refuse negotiations with Russia

Russia does not refuse negotiations on the situation around Ukraine, unlike other participants in the process.

This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the air of the program “Moscow.

Kremlin.

Putin" on TV channel "Russia 1".

“We are ready to negotiate with all participants in this process about some acceptable solutions, but this is their business: it’s not we who refuse negotiations, but they,” the Russian leader emphasized.

Answering a journalist’s question about what and who needs to do in order to step back from the current dangerous line in the actual confrontation between the potentials of Moscow and NATO, Vladimir Putin said: “I don’t think that it is so dangerous, I think that we (the authorities of the Russian Federation. —

) are acting in the right direction, we are protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people.”

“And we simply have no other choice but to protect our citizens,” the Russian president said.

Prerequisites 

Recall that Moscow has repeatedly declared its readiness for negotiations with Kyiv.

Russian officials emphasized that they were ready to resume the dialogue, which was stopped by the Ukrainian side after the Istanbul summit.

However, Kyiv does not show any desire to return to the negotiating table.

This was announced in November by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.

• Vladimir Putin

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“We state the main thing is that the position both de facto and de jure of the Ukrainian side, which was repeatedly stated by President Zelensky, indicates that Ukraine, both de facto and de jure, cannot and does not want to negotiate,” he said.

Peskov added that "the goals of the Russian Federation will be achieved through the continuation of a special military operation."

Later, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation stressed that the negotiations could be restarted if Kyiv had "the political will, the readiness to discuss those demands of Russia that are well known."

At the end of December, speaking about significant progress towards the demilitarization of Ukraine, Dmitry Peskov recalled that any conflict ends at the negotiating table.

At the same time, Volodymyr Zelensky and certain Western politicians, including Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, have previously stated that a peaceful settlement and the negotiation process can only begin after the Russian Federation withdraws its troops from the special operation zone in Ukraine.

Such rhetoric did not go unanswered by Moscow.

Thus, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko noted in November that the Russian Federation did not intend to agree to preconditions for negotiations with Kyiv.

“No, such conditions are, of course, unacceptable.

Our President has repeatedly said that we are ready for negotiations.

But these negotiations, of course, should take into account the situation “on the ground,” the diplomat emphasized, commenting on the position of the Finnish Foreign Minister.

Grushko also noted that the statements of Great Britain and Austria about the need for negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv are just rhetoric, and Russia does not see any diplomatic efforts from them in this direction.

The situation cleared up 

While Kyiv puts forward impracticable conditions for negotiations or simply denies their possibility, a number of Western politicians are promoting the approach that a potential peace settlement should not take into account Russia's interests in any way.

So, in November, the coordinator of the US National Security Council for strategic communications, John Kirby, said that "Zelensky should determine whether he is ready for negotiations, and if so, when and in what form they will take place."

• Russian Foreign Ministry

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• © Konstantin Kokoshkin

In early December, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a similar position.

He stressed that the decision to negotiate and "acceptance of the conditions must be taken by the Ukrainians."

Similar statements were also made by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley and his German counterpart Annalena Burbock.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on air “Moscow.

Kremlin.

Putin” named the clarification of who can and cannot be trusted in the international arena as the main result of 2022.

“The main conclusion and result is that the situation has finally and irrevocably cleared up.

What is happening in the world, who, with what intentions and plans, is trying to act in the international arena, who is negotiable, and who cannot be trusted from now on and henceforth, ”said the Russian Foreign Minister. 

He added that Moscow will build interstate relations "based solely on partnerships that have proven that they consist of negotiable people who keep their word, who do not try to achieve any results in their favor at the expense of infringing on the interests of others."

“Balance of interests is our motto.

Our foreign policy line is based on it.

Only such an approach has prospects in international life,” Lavrov said.

The words of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry about the loss of confidence in some global actors have recently received confirmation after the statement of the ex-Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel about the background and true purpose of the Minsk agreements, Oleg Matveychev, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, recalled in a commentary to RT.

“All this suggests that during any discussions, these people cannot be relied upon.

They do not hesitate to spread lies, but the West is still important in the negotiation process.

But in these states a lot was said, for example, about the inviolable, almost sacred right of property.

And now it turned out that, it turns out, everything can be stolen.

Therefore, the myth about certain international institutions and postulates that supposedly work for everyone has collapsed, ”the analyst argues.

Political scientists also note that even with all the obviousness of who exactly is responsible for curtailing the negotiation track between Russia and Ukraine, the West and the Kyiv authorities stubbornly ignore Moscow's arguments, which have been repeatedly confirmed by facts during the NWO.

“Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its readiness for negotiations.

But they were thwarted by the West and Zelensky.

Even now they say that the condition for dialogue is the withdrawal of Russian troops.

That is, Moscow is ready for negotiations without any conditions, but they are not.

But the Russian Federation, of course, will not succumb to this.

Moreover, according to the Constitution, new regions cannot be the subject of discussion.

Therefore, all the conditions put forward by Zelensky are just a formal refusal to negotiate,” Matveychev stressed.

The gray cardinal in this situation, he calls the United States.

“They completely control all Kyiv’s encroachments, arm the Armed Forces of Ukraine and support the Ukrainian state as such – the amount of their assistance is more than the entire consolidated budget of the republic.

They need Zelensky in order to put signatures more or less legitimately.

And if he says that he does not want negotiations, then this is just a translation of the will of the United States, ”said Matveychev.

At the same time, Vladimir Vinokurov, professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in an interview with RT, draws attention to the fact that the West is trying to create the appearance that supposedly it is the Russian Federation that does not want a peaceful settlement of the situation.

“In the West, they are trying to accuse Moscow of not seeking negotiations and trying to solve all plans for solving the problem of Ukraine by military means.

But the opposite is true: the Russian Foreign Ministry is consistent in its actions.

And Russian diplomacy adheres to the principle that any local conflict must ultimately end at the negotiating table, ”the expert emphasized.

He added that many world leaders and political figures offer their mediation services and various settlement formats, but none of these options take into account Russia's concerns.

“All this activity will not end with anything definite, but what President Putin is talking about is just a concrete invitation to negotiations, an opportunity to stop this conflict.

However, Kyiv and the West put forward obviously unacceptable conditions, up to the transfer of Crimea under the control of the Ukrainian authorities.

Therefore, it can be argued that the rest of the participants in this confrontation are actually incapable of negotiating at the moment, ”concluded the political scientist.