After Tuesday’s hope that a positive turnaround in the negotiations was near, today a cold comment comes from Moscow: “There is no promising news” in the deal, the Kremlin spokesman said. But the dialogue continues, as indicated by the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, apparently in contradiction with the Kremlin, and a one-hour phone call between Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Vladimir Putin. In parallel, a long phone call also between Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the background, however, the war continues, with Russian bombardments on Mariupol and other cities. Meanwhile, Ukrainian refugees seeking refuge abroad have reached 4 million, according to UN figures, including 2 million children.
The negotiation
The statement by Dmitrij Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, seems blunt: no “promising news” in the talks between the two sides. An apparent contradiction of what was leaked 24 hours earlier also by the Kremlin, according to which there were steps forward on a draft agreement. According to Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, who gave an interview to Rosary 24the main contrast remains however the failure of Kiev to recognize that Donbass and Crimea belong to Moscow: “Our position in this regard remains unchanged”, said the senior official, adding however that “for the first time Ukraine has put in writing its willingness to meet a series of important conditions to build normal and hopefully good neighborly relations with Russia “, citing” the refusal to join NATO, neutrality, the renunciation of nuclear weapons and foreign military bases ” .
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Zelensky’s spokesman, for his part, says that the issue of Donbass and Crimea can only be resolved in a summit between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. The Ukrainian chief negotiator Podalyok, commenting on the rumors about the international guarantees for the security of Ukraine, observes that “Italy is interested in participating and we would be very grateful if it did”. Russian Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov, however, contradicts the negative judgment of Putin’s spokesman, arguing that the two sides have made “substantial progress” in the negotiations; and he also provides a completely different version from that of Kiev, saying that the question of the Donbass and the Crimea “has been definitively resolved”.
Phone calls between leaders
As he had announced in recent days, Draghi called Putin: the telephone conversation lasted more than 60 minutes, there was talk of war and also of gas, that is, Moscow’s energy supplies to our country. In London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “putting Putin from power is not a goal” of the British government, thus adapting to the official position of the United States. But Johnson adds that he believes “it is not ignoble to hope” for such an epilogue against the backdrop of Moscow’s “barbaric aggression” against Ukraine, thus also siding with Biden’s words on Putin, “such a man cannot remain in power ”, Which had forced the White House to make a rectification. The British premier also said that he has nothing against French President Macron keeping open a channel of communication with Putin, “if Kiev deems it useful”.
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Bombs and troops
Russian bombing continues, particularly in the Donetsk region and Chernihiv. Putin launches another ultimatum to the population of Mariupol besieged for weeks and in a critical situation due to lack of food: “They must lower their weapons and surrender if they want the bombing to end”. According to Ukrainian sources, a Red Cross building was also bombed in Mariupol. The Russian Defense Ministry says that the regrouping of its own troops, part of which have withdrawn to Belarus, is a temporary move to concentrate military action on the main front and complete the “liberation” of the Donbass, or the separatist region in the east of Ukraine partially occupied since 2014, which includes Donetsk and Lugansk. In spite of similar announcements from Moscow, “we do not see a mass withdrawal from Kiev,” says a spokesman for the Ukrainian government.
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Doubt about Putin
There is still skepticism in the West and in Kiev about Putin’s attitude. Is the head of the Kremlin telling him to negotiate seriously or is he just taking the time to strengthen his troops after five weeks of the war not going according to plan, and then re-launching the offensive?
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In short, is Putin sincere or is his negotiation a trap? According to US intelligence, “the Russian president’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth about the war”: until he realizes that the invasion is not going as he hoped, the Russian president will not agree to negotiate a compromise with Ukraine. His parents are obviously afraid to tell him how things really are: but if Ukraine continues to resist, they will not be able to continue to give him a rosy picture forever.