Non-contact persons: Moscow does not see Kiev's readiness for real negotiations
None of Russia's attempts to declare a truce have been supported by Ukraine, which suggests that the Kiev regime is betting on war. This was stated to Izvestia by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin. The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasizes that Russia has no contact with the Ukrainian side, except for cooperation on exchange issues. Nevertheless, Moscow is ready for dialogue with Kiev without preconditions. The Verkhovna Rada believes that meetings at the level of parliamentarians of the two countries can become a prologue for negotiations. The probability of the start of the peace process in 2025 is described in the Izvestia article.
Kiev is sabotaging negotiations with Russia
Russia is ready for direct negotiations with Ukraine. After the change of administration in the United States, the dialogue between Moscow and Washington on the settlement of this conflict has moved from a dead end. However, this does not mean that peace can be achieved in the near future. The key obstacle remains the position of Kiev, which does not intend to restore dialogue with Moscow and support its initiatives yet.
— No attempt to declare a truce was actually supported by the Kiev regime, which continued to violate the truce. And this suggests that the regime is betting on war," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in a conversation with Izvestia. — Moreover, the legislative self-ban of the Kiev regime on negotiations with Russia has not been lifted.
On April 28, Vladimir Putin announced a three—day truce from May 8 to May 11. Earlier, the Russian Federation initiated the Easter truce, which was in effect from 6 p.m. on April 19 to midnight on the 21st. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Russian proposal for a truce is the beginning of direct negotiations without preconditions. However, in both cases, Kiev actually rejected the initiatives of the Russian Federation, calling for a 30-day truce. Russia has stated that it is impossible to achieve such a long-term ceasefire without resolving all the nuances.
Vladimir Putin spoke about the nuances of the truce back in mid-March. It is not clear who and how will monitor the observance of the ceasefire, as well as whether Ukraine will try to take advantage of the pause to regain strength and resume hostilities. The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasizes that they do not see any real signals from Ukraine about its readiness to start peace talks.
— There is no reason to say that Ukraine is ready to change its actions "on the ground" in any way. We don't see this happening today. We only see a flinch in pseudo-peacemaking rhetoric. You can't get enough of peacemaking statements alone, we don't see Ukraine somehow demonstrating or confirming its commitment to a ceasefire," Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at—large for crimes of the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
In mid-April, a 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure between Russia and Ukraine expired. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Moscow had recorded 144 strikes on power facilities by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In addition, the Ukrainian special services continue to carry out terrorist attacks in the Russian rear. So, the latest high-profile case was the murder on April 25 of the deputy head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik. By the way, Roman Kostenko, Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, promised that the Ukrainian special services would continue to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia even after the suspension of hostilities.
At what level is a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine possible
In the fall of 2022, Vladimir Zelensky issued a decree prohibiting Ukraine from negotiating with Vladimir Putin. Zelensky's legitimacy as president of the country may raise questions (formally, his powers expired in May last year), the Kremlin points out: "In this case, the interests of entering into a peaceful settlement process are above all, and the first priority is to start this negotiation process."
— Today, there is cooperation with Ukraine in terms of exchanges — this is at the military level. And there is a dialogue at the level of ombudsmen. There are no other official contacts that would talk about starting a dialogue, a pre-dialogue, consultations or negotiations on negotiations. There are only attempts by the Americans to act as moderators of the process," said Rodion Miroshnik.
Member of the Verkhovna Rada, former member of the presidential party "Servant of the People" Artem Dmytruk, who was forced to leave Ukraine in 2024, is confident that the only real way to achieve peace is through direct negotiations between the parties to the conflict. At the same time, he is confident that preliminary contacts on the issue of a peaceful settlement could now take place, for example, at the level of deputies of the parliaments of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
— As for my position as a People's Deputy of Ukraine, I am ready to participate 24/7 in any negotiation processes concerning the cessation of hostilities, further peace, technical cooperation, and relations between Ukraine and Russia. Today, this is the No. 1 request of the citizens of Ukraine," he said in a conversation with Izvestia.
There have been no direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since the end of March 2022. The last meeting of the countries' representatives was held in Istanbul. Currently, the Gulf states, in particular, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, are active intermediaries. It is possible that a new possible meeting may take place in one of these countries.
"The likelihood of resuming such negotiations in 2025 remains high, at least because Kiev is under serious pressure from Washington and the international community to find a diplomatic solution," Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies, told Izvestia. — Kiev also has serious problems at the front, first of all it is a shortage of people. At the same time, it is important to remember that Zelensky has created a legal barrier by prohibiting himself from participating in direct negotiations with Russia at the legislative level, so if negotiations resume, it will primarily be at the level of technical groups and representatives of the Foreign Ministry.
The "War Party" in the West
Currently, negotiations on the settlement of the conflict mediated by the United States are at an impasse due to the large number of existing disagreements. Therefore, if Donald Trump managed to put the Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the same table, it could be a big breakthrough and his personal achievement, Tigran Meloyan believes.
— Unilateral or mediated cease-fire agreements have so far failed to lead to a significant de-escalation, so we should expect that the American side will gradually change its approaches, in particular, move away from the strategy of shuttle diplomacy to the need for direct meetings. The Russian side is going to a meeting with Trump on this issue, stating that the Kremlin is ready for direct negotiations and, most importantly, without any preconditions, while Ukraine has not yet responded to this in any way," the analyst stressed.
However, there are still forces in the United States and many European countries opposed to resolving the conflict taking into account Russia's interests. For example, France and the United Kingdom are not abandoning the idea of sending their military personnel to Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly stated that it opposes this, and such a step will only lead to an escalation of the conflict. As for Germany, the future Chancellor Friedrich Merz allows the transfer of long-range Taurus missiles to Kiev, which are capable of hitting targets deep in Russian territory. In addition, the European Commission promises to continue providing Ukraine with military assistance. This year, the EU is ready to allocate €23 billion for these purposes.
The other day, Le Monde newspaper reported that the heads of parliamentary committees of seven European countries appealed to the United States to toughen its approach to Russia. Finally, after the meeting between Trump and Zelensky in the Vatican on April 26, Western media called for not supporting the American peace plan, which, in particular, provides for the recognition of Crimea as part of the Russian Federation by the United States. The American edition of Politico writes that Trump's "plan" could cost Zelensky the presidency and destabilize Ukraine. And the British newspaper Financial Times suggests that there is no point in Kiev negotiating with Trump at all, since the US president is "looking for an excuse" to withdraw from negotiations on Ukraine.
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