Open to talks, but on their own terms Zelensky

By Athena Papakosta

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, hints that is now open to peace talks with Russia while not long ago they refused any negotiation with Moscow. More specifically, at the beginning of October he had signed a decree according to which any prospect of talks with the Russian president himself, Vladimir Putin, is prohibited. It was preceded by Moscow’s annexation of the four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. Today, he appears to appeal to the international community to “press Russia into real peace talks”.

Of course, the Ukrainian president sets his own conditions. So, in order to have a dialogue, he calls for the return of all occupied territories to Ukraine, compensation for the damages caused by the war and the prosecution of war crimes. These conditions, however, do not meet Moscow’s… conditions. Therefore, it seems difficult for the two sides to sit down at the dialogue table.

Political analysts comment that Zelensky’s new stance is a smart maneuver and this is because we must not forget how much Western support has helped Ukraine, both militarily and financially. After all, when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 there were not a few who judged that it would only take a few days for the Ukrainians to surrender and today, 9 months later, they have been disproved.

“Zelensky is trying to maneuver because a promise of talks does not force Kyiv to do anything but makes it possible that he will still retain the support of his Western partners,” said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta Center think-tank in Kyiv.

At the same time, however, things are complicated since Ukraine’s strongest and closest ally, the United States, is facing midterm elections in the country. If the Republicans win Congress or even just the House of Representatives then things get complicated for Kiev. Conservatives will not give Ukraine a blank check as there is skepticism within the Republican party about continued US support for the country.

For its part, Moscow declares that it is open to talks, but as it repeats, it has not received any “serious” proposals for negotiations and contacts. To Zelensky’s proposal, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, responded that Moscow was not going to settle on any terms for resuming talks, accusing Kiev of lacking goodwill. “It is their choice. We always declare our readiness for such negotiations”, he underlined.

However, the Russian side has repeatedly accused the US of preventing the holding of talks with Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, who replied that this was not the case, adding in an interview with Svoboda radio station yesterday that Kyiv would negotiate with Russia only when Russian soldiers stop stepping on Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, appeared on the same wavelength.

In the background, however, there seems to be movement for Ukraine to come to the negotiating table. A few days ago, the American Washington Post reported that the Biden administration is unofficially encouraging Kyiv to make an opening to Moscow to restart negotiations. And Kyiv may be denying any “encouragement”, but for the first time in a long time it is setting conditions to discuss, at a time when the Ukrainian counter-offensive is advancing in Kherson and the West is now under considerable financial and energy pressure…

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