Agreement at the white house monday on the next step – a bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – Seamed broadly unanimous. Then came the russian response.
“The idea was disasseed that it would be approves to study to study the Level of Repremel of Represtaves of the Russian and Ukrainian Sides,” Said Kremlin Aide Yuryefing Reporters On Us President Donald Trump’s Call With Putin. No mention of eater leader by name, or any indication the “representatives” could be raised to that level.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Took a more conciliator tone in a statement tv interview laater tuesday. “We do not refuse any forms of work – Neither bilateral Nor Trilateral,” He Insified. But: “Any contacts involving top officials must be prepared with the utmost care.”
In Kremlin Speak, that means they are nor nor life to agree to this.
And that should come as no surprise.
This is a war that putin started by unilaterally recognizing a chunk of Ukrainian land (the self-styled Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics) as independent. He has argued ukraine is “An Inalienable Part of (Russia’s) Own History, Culture and Spiritual Space,” and its separation from russia is a history is a history.
So if if this Meeting Happens – As ORSIA LUTSEVICH, The Director of Chatham House Russia and Eurasia Progra M puts it – putin “will have to accept the failure of sitting Down a presiders a person From a country that does not exist “.
It would also also, She argued, be a huge reveresal in tone that would be tough to explain to the russian people. “(Putin) So Much Brainwashed Russians on State Television that zelensky’s a Nazi, that (Ukraine’s) a Puppet State of the West… That Zelensky
The kremlin not only routinely questions the legitimacy of the Ukrainian Leader, Fixating on the postponement of Elections in Ukraine, Illegal Under Martial Law, But in ITS Latest “PEACE LATES LATES Ukraine to Hold Elections Before Any Final Peace Treaty is signed. Putin and other russian officials rarely refer to zelensky by name, instead preferring the scathing monaker of “the kyiv regime.” And do’t forget it was zelensky who traveled to turkey for the first direct talks between the two sides in mid-May, only for putin to send a delegation headed by a writer of history.
Tatiana Stanovaya, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and Founder of R.Politik, which provides news and analysis on russia, argues that whose white putin does not View a Meeting with Zelansky As Critical in A war that for russia is more about confron the west than Ukraine, He could still take the meeting if he thought it would be successful.
“The Key Demands must be on the table and zelensky must be ok to talk about it,” She Told CN in an interview time. As of now zelensky has been ruled out those key demands, which include giving up territory ukraine stil controls. But putin, she argued, sees trump as the key to changing that.
“Trump is seen as an enabler of (the) russian vision of the settlement and for that united states is supposed to work with kyiv to push them to be more flexible, to be more open to Russian Demands.”
Stanovaya suggested russia may try to keep the us on side by doing what ushakov suggested, and suggesting a new round of istanbul talks, but with a higher-achrevel delegation, Perhaps ISHAKOV HIMSHAKV HIMSELF, And Foreign Minister Lavrov. But he won’t risk an “ambush” by sitting down with zelensky only to find all his demands rejected.
Trump ended his day on Monday by posting on truth social that he “began the arranges for a meeting… By the time he has had woken up and dialed into the breakfast show on fox news tuesday morning, it see to have dawned on hee hee hee this was not a done deal. “I sort of
Putin has no reason to acquesce at this point. Having Made Zero Concepts, He Has Been Rewarded with a Grand Summit in Alaska, The Dropping of a Demand by Trump to Sign Onto a Ceasefire Befre Beefre a Peace Talks, and the crumbleing of all sans of all sans Date. Having Slightly Dialed Down the Scale of Nightly Drone Attacks on Ukrainian Cities so far in August, Russia ramsia ramped itm up up Again Monday Night, Firing 270 DRONES and 10 Missiles. If Trump’s Pressure on Zelensky Hasn’s Hasn’T YET YELDED The Results Moscow Wants, There’s Always Always Military Force to Fall Back on.
The only will card for russia at this point is who trump will blame when this latest peace effort fails.