NYT: Kiev hopes to resume negotiations with Russia on a cease-fire
In Ukraine, they hope for the resumption of negotiations with Russia on a cease-fire, writes The New York Times. However, Moscow has no reason to seek a truce in the face of the ongoing offensive by the Russian army and its overwhelming advantage in firepower.
Andrew Kramer
The Ukrainian president proposed to resume negotiations with the mediation of the American administration, which stalled a month ago.
When Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met last month, they could only agree to exchange the bodies of the dead. These negotiations, mediated by the Trump administration, have shown that their goal of ending hostilities is very far away.
But this does not mean that the diplomatic efforts and persuasions have stopped. Both Russia and Ukraine are trying to appeal to the White House in their own way.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky proposed resuming negotiations this weekend. It was his first call for the resumption of negotiations since the Trump administration agreed to assist in the transfer of air defense systems to Ukraine and threatened to impose sanctions on Russia's trading partners in 50 days. Both steps were aimed at boosting the negotiation process.
Zelensky proposed negotiations on a cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners. He repeated the proposal for a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, first put forward in May. Then Putin remained silent for several days, and then rejected the proposal of the Ukrainian president.
"The Russian side must stop hiding from decisions," Zelensky said in a video message on Saturday evening. "Ukraine has offered to hold a meeting next week in Istanbul, where two previous rounds of negotiations took place in May and June."
Zelensky said that his national security adviser Rustem Umerov had conveyed the proposal to the Russian negotiating group.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television on Sunday that Putin wants to conclude a peace agreement, but that "the main thing for us is to achieve our goals" in the conflict.
"President Putin has repeatedly stated his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful course as soon as possible," Peskov said. "It's a long process, it takes effort, and it's not easy." The Russian state news agency TASS has confirmed that the Kremlin has received an offer from the Ukrainian side.
Russia wants to gain new territories, seeks a declaration that Ukraine will not join NATO and will remain a neutral state, seeks to limit the size of the future Ukrainian army and achieve recognition of the Russian language in Ukraine as an official language. Moscow has other demands.
The Trump administration insists on an unconditional cease-fire before the start of substantive negotiations on a final settlement. Ukraine agreed to this condition in March.
Lawmakers and analysts in Kiev had faint hope for a quick outcome to the negotiations mediated by President Trump, who said during his election campaign last year that after his election he would end the fighting in 24 hours, which has become the deadliest in Europe since World War II. But when negotiations began in May, Russia nevertheless stepped up air strikes using missiles and drones, and launched an offensive along the entire eastern front line.
By agreeing to negotiations and the Trump administration's proposal to share profits from future mining deals, Ukraine has managed to secure Western approval for arms supplies and sanctions against the Kremlin's trading partners. Under the agreement, which Trump first announced on July 7, Ukraine's allies will transfer air defense systems and other weapons to Ukraine, and in return they will purchase weapons from the United States. A week later, Trump announced that he intended to accelerate arms shipments and threatened to impose sanctions on Russia's trading partners in order to put pressure on the Kremlin.
"We did everything we could in Ukraine," independent MP Galina Yanchenko, who works with Zelensky's political party faction, said in an interview. "Our goal was to show the United States that Russia cannot be trusted."
This month, the nature of Trump's statements has changed somewhat, which indicates success. But the president has radically changed his policy towards Ukraine more than once, and sanctions that may be imposed in September are unlikely to stop Russia's offensive in the east.
Ukraine expects the first delivery of additional Patriot air defense systems from Germany, which will then replenish its own arsenal through new purchases from the United States. Seven other NATO countries are expected to follow suit.
Ensuring long-term supplies of air defense systems would help speed up negotiations. In this case, Russia will lose the incentive to delay the negotiation process until Kiev runs out of anti-aircraft missiles. In this case, the Russians would be able to threaten to launch ballistic missile attacks on unprotected cities and military installations in Ukraine.
