Russian wants to buy time to regroup – Foreign Intelligence Service
Oleh Ivashchenko, Chief of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.
“Their logic is simple enough: they are wanting to buy time to reorganize themselves. But no one gives guarantees that this will be peace. Rather, this will be the next phase in their preparation for a new attack. They are bargaining because they are tired. They have neither sufficient human resources, nor equipment or time,” he said in response to a question about prospects for a peaceful settlement.
He emphasized that the President, the entire Ukrainian government and law enforcement agencies are working on increasing pressure on Russia by imposing additional sanctions and restrictions on its oil and gas exports.
“Because each of their oil tankers is a dollar that they have earned somewhere else. It is clear to us that Ukraine did and will retain ownership of the lands enshrined in our Constitution, the lands that are recognized as ours by international law. This is not up for debate,” Ivashchenko said.
As reported by Ukrinform, on May 10, Ukraine—alongside its allies France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Poland—proposed a 30-day unconditional ceasefire. In the event of refusal, Ukraine’s allies pledged to strengthen sanctions against Russia.
Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested resuming direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, where “negotiations had been interrupted” in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope for a Russian ceasefire and announced that he would personally await Putin in Turkey on May 15. However, Putin instead sent a low-level delegation. In turn, Zelensky formed a Ukrainian delegation led by the Defense Minister.
The only concrete outcome of the Istanbul talks was an agreement to exchange prisoners of war in a 1,000-for-1,000 format.
On May 19, Zelensky stated that Ukraine is considering various locations for potential peace talks with Russia, including Istanbul, the Vatican, Geneva, or another city.
