Diplomat: Kremlin’s statements about “readiness for negotiations” not about peace but form of blackmail

This opinion was expressed by Andrii Veselovsky, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, advisor to the director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, in a comment to Ukrinform.

The diplomat recalled that the statement by Russia's chargé d'affaires in Turkey, Alexei Ivanov, about the Kremlin's alleged readiness to negotiate with Ukraine came a few days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed “incomprehension” regarding US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's conclusion that Moscow was not ready for dialogue.

Veselovsky noted that Moscow's repetition of such statements has a double meaning. "First, it is an attempt to show that if the US does not want to talk to Russia directly, Moscow is allegedly ready to negotiate with Ukraine ‘at least’. Second, it is a repetition of the same ultimatums and proposals to create three groups to discuss everything from prisoners to the economy and politics, that is, an endless process, as was the case during the Minsk agreements," the diplomat explained.

According to him, the Kremlin's intensified rhetoric about “peace talks” may be related to the fact that Russia has sensed a certain weakening of Ukraine and is seeking to take advantage of this by combining negotiating tactics with military pressure on the front lines.

"The Russian Federation is trying to pretend to be a peacekeeping force without changing its ultimatums one iota. They hope that by advancing on our territory, they will blackmail us into accepting their dictates. Therefore, statements about readiness for negotiations are not about peace, they are a form of blackmail," Veselovsky concluded.

Earlier, Russian media outlet TASS reported that Russia's chargé d'affaires in Turkey, Alexei Ivanov, said that the Russian Federation was allegedly ready to resume negotiations with the Ukrainian side in Istanbul “at any moment.”