Conflict potential: what role did the West play in the disruption of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine

Negotiations between representatives of Russia and Ukraine in the spring of 2022 were interrupted at the initiative of Western countries, said former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, who then served as an intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv.

In an interview published on his YouTube channel, Bennet spoke in detail about his participation in the process of agreeing on the positions of Moscow and Kyiv to resolve the conflict.

According to the politician, both sides then expressed their readiness to make concessions.

In particular, Ukraine, according to Bennett, abandoned the idea of ​​joining NATO.

“It was a huge concession on both sides.

Giant.

Really big concessions.

This whole conflict happened because of their desire to join NATO, and here Zelensky says: “I refuse this idea,” the ex-premier said.

He noted that during the negotiation process, he had the impression that both sides "really want to agree on a ceasefire."

According to him, then there were "good chances" for the success of the dialogue.

As Bennett explained, Western politicians at that time had different views on resolving the situation.

“Each leader has had his own approach... You can divide them into those who adhere to the line “We must fight back against Putin” ... Boris Johnson advocated more radical measures.

Macron and Scholz were more pragmatic, let's say, and Biden supported both approaches, ”said Bennett.

• Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett

• AP

• © Gil Cohen-Magen

However, in the end, the West decided to stop the negotiations, the Israeli politician said.

“The West has made a decision... that it is necessary to continue to smash Putin, and not to negotiate... They broke off the negotiations, and then it seemed to me that they were wrong.

And now I will say that it is too early to draw conclusions, ”said Bennett.

According to him, he coordinated all his actions to the smallest detail with the leadership of the United States, Germany and France.

Moscow reacted to Bennett's interview.

The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, in her Telegram channel, described his speech as "another confession."

Commented on Bennett's revelations and the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, who took part in last year's negotiations with Kyiv.

He stated that Bennett did not open America, stating that the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks were curtailed at the behest of Washington.

As the deputy recalled, at the meetings in Istanbul a big step was taken towards resolving the crisis, and Russia took unprecedented measures for this.

“In order to demonstrate goodwill, we have withdrawn troops from the Kyiv and Chernigov directions,” he stressed in a conversation with TASS.

However, Kyiv, under pressure from the West, refused dialogue, Slutsky added.

“Kyiv did it.

Under pressure from the Western masters... The West did not want to abandon its offspring - the "anti-Russia" project in Ukraine.

The West is not ready to give up the ambitions of the hegemon,” the deputy said.

"An investment in prolonging the conflict"

It is worth noting that back in June 2022, in an interview with the Radio and Television of the Republika Srpska television and radio company, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Kyiv had stopped negotiations with Moscow at the direction of the West.

“The West does not allow Ukraine to negotiate.

Ukraine seemed to put forward a proposal two months ago on how to resolve this issue.

We have taken these proposals as a basis.

So, a day later, the West forbade Ukrainians to continue this process, ”the minister said at the time.

• Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov

• RIA News

• © Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

However, against this background, the West continues to assert that it is the Russian Federation that allegedly does not want negotiations with Ukraine.

In particular, the corresponding statement was made on February 2 by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, in an article published on the website of the EU Foreign Service.

“Although the Europeans will always be open (for dialogue. -

) with everyone who is serious about trying to end the conflict through negotiations on fair terms, Russia has so far made it clear that it is going to continue ... All who tried to negotiate with Putin returned empty-handed,” he wrote.

Commenting on these words, Maria Zakharova called them a lie, which Josep Borrell says “in his usual manner”.

“We would like to remind you that Russia has repeatedly repeated at all platforms and at different levels about its openness to negotiations on resolving the conflict in Ukraine without preliminary and unacceptable conditions, but it was Ukraine that left the negotiations on orders from outside,” the diplomat said.

She also recalled that the Ukrainian authorities in October 2022 introduced a legislative ban on negotiations with the Russian leadership.

“On the day of the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv, Borrell apparently deliberately “forgot” that V. Zelensky’s decree legally prohibited any negotiations with the leadership of the Russian Federation.

So let him turn all his pathos to the Ukrainian leadership, ”the Foreign Ministry website quotes Zakharova as saying.

“The call of the head of EU “diplomacy” to provide Kyiv with “funds” means the continuation of the supply of weapons and military equipment.

In other words, an investment in prolonging the conflict, and not in finding a non-military solution, ”concluded Zakharova.

"Course on the use of force"

According to Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, Bennett in his interview only confirmed what Moscow has been talking about for a long time.

“The Russian side has repeatedly stated that the negotiation process that went on between Russia and Ukraine in the spring of 2022 was interrupted due to interference and at the initiative of the West,” the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

• Russian artillerymen load the Msta-B howitzer in the southern sector of the NVO

• RIA News

In turn, Vladimir Vinokurov, professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, recalled that the West stopped the negotiations at a time when the parties were already close to an agreement.

“Russia initiated these negotiations from the very beginning.

And in general, they went well, the parties were close to an agreement.

A special military operation could have already been completed, and the conflict settled, ”said the source of RT.

From his point of view, Bennett's revelations, like the earlier confessions of Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande and Petro Poroshenko, "prove the hypocrisy and double standards of the West, and also quite well reveal the true intentions of the US and the EU."

“The West wants to erase such a strong state as Russia from the political map of the world.

Concern for Ukraine and Ukrainian democracy is nothing more than a front for this purpose.

The West did not need negotiations at all, they initially headed for the use of military force, ”the expert believes.

A similar opinion is shared by Vladimir Olenchenko.

He believes that Washington and Brussels forced Kyiv to abandon the negotiations, as they are interested in Ukraine continuing to perform the functions of "anti-Russia", which should weaken the Russian Federation.

At the same time, from his point of view, it is extremely difficult to negotiate with Ukraine in the current conditions.

“Kyiv issued a decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia.

There was a deadlock situation.

In addition, Western countries are doing nothing to resume the dialogue.

They could at least not pump weapons and money into Ukraine, fuel the conflict even more and support extremists and Nazis.

But they do the opposite,” the analyst emphasized.

Experts also drew attention to the words of Naftali Bennett that it was Kyiv's desire to join NATO that largely provoked the conflict in Ukraine.

“The ex-premier only stated the obvious.

This opinion has been expressed by many.

Western countries encouraged the aspirations of Kyiv to place their weapons and military institutions in Ukraine, such as biolaboratories.

All this aggravated the situation, ”concluded Olenchenko.