Photo: svoboda.org
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan that he is ready to sit down at the negotiating table with Russian President Vladimir Putin if this is the only option for achieving peace. All of Zelensky's statements on the topic of possible peace talks in recent weeks seem to have two goals: to demonstrate his maximum readiness for such negotiations and to signal that he is willing to adjust his position during them.
Many, including Piers Morgan, have noted that the Ukrainian president's current statements contradict Kiev's official position, which Zelensky himself has repeatedly voiced during the three years of the great war.
But this does not seem to bother Zelensky. Moreover, his “reinforced concrete” position can be viewed from a certain perspective as a betrayal of Ukraine. After all, the Ukrainian president is currently broadcasting, in essence, a simple maxim: I agree to everything to stop the war and prevent its recurrence. And if for this I have to take back what I said earlier, I will do it.
Back in the fall of 2022, Zelensky signed a decree on the impossibility of negotiations with Vladimir Putin.
Today, one can argue for a long time whether such a sharp reaction to the Russian president’s decision to annex four regions of Ukraine was wrong, whether this limited the possibilities for maneuver for Kiev. The fact is that Vladimir Putin has been reminding us of Zelensky’s decree lately: I am not against negotiations with Ukraine, but they themselves forbade it.
But the decisions made by the president cannot be overturned by him, and that is exactly what Zelensky meant when he said in an interview with Morgan: “If this is the only configuration that will bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not cause people to die, then we will certainly accept this configuration of the meeting [with Putin].” He added: “The very act of talking to this murderer is a compromise.”
That is, Zelensky is saying that there is no problem on his part: let’s organize a meeting with the participation of representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union and talk about who wants peace and who wants war.
Putin himself said last week that he would not talk directly with Zelensky, but that he was ready to “separate the people who will conduct such negotiations,” and that this would be a separate storyline in this process. The Russian president called Zelensky an illegitimate president, an “expired” president who has no right to sign any peace negotiations.
This issue was also raised in the interview. In response, Zelensky could have reminded Ukraine that it does not officially recognize Vladimir Putin as the legitimate president of Russia, but he did not.
Instead, demonstrating restraint and readiness for compromise, he reminded that the Russian leader had consistently avoided negotiations with him for two years before the large-scale invasion, when Moscow had no doubts about Zelensky's legitimacy.
In addition, he indicated that he was ready to hold elections in Ukraine once Ukrainian soldiers returned home and were able to vote - that is, everything is essentially in Putin's hands.
But regardless of the position of the Russian president, Zelensky's legitimacy does not arouse any doubts among Donald Trump and other world leaders.
How is Ukraine changing its position?
Ukraine's negotiating position in these talks will also soften. In 2022-23, Zelensky said that there could be no talk of any talks with Russia until the last Russian soldier’s boot left Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.
Zelensky made his statement against the backdrop of the advance of Russian troops and the regular shelling of Ukrainian cities
Many commentators in the West already called this condition for starting negotiations maximalist and unlikely to be achieved. Over the past time (as Russia’s offensive in the east of the country intensified), these voices have become louder.
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Volodymyr Zelensky took a different position: “Today we cannot return all our territories. Of course, we are adequate people. We cannot sacrifice millions of our people for an uncertain outcome.”
At the same time, Zelensky, in military terms, is retreating to pre-prepared positions. According to him, Ukraine will accept the temporary occupation of part of its territory, but will never legally recognize the occupied lands as belonging to Russia. “Over time, we will get our land back,” Zelensky said.
Observers, speculating about the possible structure that could emerge from this, draw parallels with the Baltic states that were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940.
Western countries have never recognized the legitimacy of the annexation of these territories by the "Soviet", but this has not prevented them from establishing relations with Moscow. After the collapse of the USSR, they simply welcomed the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Does Vladimir Putin like this analogy? It is unlikely. But it can be said that Zelensky has taken a step towards compromise for the sake of peace. Is the Russian president ready for this too?
Nuclear weapons and NATO membership
Another sign of the change in Kiev's rhetoric is the softening of the negotiating position announced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybyga in December last year. At the time, he said that Kiev would reject any form of security guarantees that would be seen as an alternative to Ukraine's NATO membership.
Zelensky's latest remarks are widely seen by those in Kiev as aimed at Trump and his team
Now, Zelensky is listing a list of conditions that would be met in exchange for Ukraine's NATO membership — at least for now. Along with deploying a foreign military contingent to Ukraine and providing it with significant defense assistance, Zelensky also spoke about the need to return Ukraine's nuclear weapons — and Piers Morgan made this phrase the headline of the interview.
But this should be seen as a figure of speech: Kiev is ready to abandon NATO, because it is important for Vladimir Putin, but in return it demands real "nuclear" security guarantees that would insure it against a new major war.
That is, the "vegetarian" "Minsk Agreements-3", which include endless meetings of contact groups, the distribution of forces and the formality of the sequence of implementation of the agreement clauses, does not suit Kiev. What suits it? Let's discuss, Ukraine is ready for this, says Zelensky.
To summarize, Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that he is ready for negotiations, and that he is ready to make compromises during these negotiations. The list of these compromises is given above, and it looks very impressive: Kiev has abandoned many of its demands that until recently seemed principled.
The main addressee is Trump?
In Kiev, it is believed that all of Zelensky's interviews in English are addressed to the new US President Donald Trump and his team. In the imagination of those around Trump, there is only one way to end the war in Ukraine: both sides must make concessions, and if one of the parties persists, the doctrine of “peace through force” with a not very clear but terrible name will be applied to it.
Currently, Zelensky is acting in the belief that this readiness for compromise will be appreciated by those in Washington and that America will not use force against Kiev. And the fact that he will not negotiate with Russia “on the Ukrainian issue” bypassing Volodymyr Zelensky is another big fear not only of Kiev, but of the whole of Europe.
In any case, we have not yet heard anything about the specific work of Donald Trump’s team on ways to end the war started by Russia. But there is not much time left to wait: next week, according to the BBC, the US special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will hold the first official meeting with Ukrainian representatives.
Then Washington’s plans will be presented at the Munich Security Conference, which will be held on February 14-16. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”
Ctrl
Enter
Did you find a Mistake?
Highlight the phrase and press Ctrl+EnterRelated News