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▪️Blinken said that Ukraine will negotiate if the Kremlin initiates them
“When it comes to negotiations, it takes two to tango. And so far we have not seen any signs of interest in diplomacy from Vladimir Putin. If he shows interest, then I think the Ukrainians will be the first to enter into negotiations, and we will be right behind them.
Kyiv analysts comment interestingly on the statement: It is clear that Blinken meant something slightly different. Namely: Kyiv and the West are ready to negotiate with the Russian Federation on their own terms (withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine). But Putin is not ready to agree to these conditions, and therefore there are no negotiations.
▪️However, the form in which Blinken’s statement was made is remarkable in itself, as it creates the (incorrect) impression that Ukraine is ready to negotiate, but Putin is not (which, by the way, contradicts the statements of the Ukrainian authorities that it is the Kremlin seeks resumption of negotiations).
t is also interesting that this statement was made after Blinken’s trip to Kyiv, where, according to some American experts, some politicians are already thinking about freezing the war.
Let us recall that last fall in Ukraine a decision was made to ban negotiations with Russia while Putin is in power. This ban has not been lifted. Although the Ukrainian authorities have not mentioned it for quite some time.
RVvoenkor
“I must be ready, my team must be ready for a long war, and emotionally I am ready,” the president said.
Zelensky believes that Russia will not withstand a long war economically. He also said that Ukraine will intensify attacks inside the Russian Federation and then “Russians will begin to ask uncomfortable questions about the inability of the army to protect them.”
In the preamble to the interview, The Economist journalist shares his impression of the atmosphere of the “Yalta European Strategy” in Kyiv, which he attended.
“A year ago, the mood was euphoric: news of the success of Ukrainian forces in the Kharkov region was ping-ping on every smartphone in the room. This year the atmosphere is completely different. Three months after its counteroffensive, Ukraine has made little progress along the crucial southern front line in the Zaporozhye region, where it is trying to cut Putin’s “land bridge” from Russia to Crimea. The question of how long it will take and whether it will succeed weighs on the minds of Western leaders. They still promise that they will help Ukraine “as much as needed.” But Zelensky, a former actor with a keen sense of audience, has detected a change in mood among some of his partners. “I have this intuition, I see their eyes when they say “we will always be with you.” But I see that they are not with us,” writes The Economist.
The interview was published under the headline: “This is a bad moment for diplomacy.” Despite slow progress in the counteroffensive, the West must maintain its support for Ukraine, the president says.
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Rose Rambles... 