Political analyst linked Kiev's willingness to negotiate with an attempt to freeze the front

When Ukraine and the West talk about readiness for peace talks, it should be taken into account that they are talking about a suspension of hostilities on terms disadvantageous to Russia. In reality, Kiev would like not peace but a halt to the advance of the Russian army. This was stated by political scientist Dmitry Solonnikov in a conversation with Izvestia on December 5.

Earlier in the day, The Wall Street Journal quoted a source as saying that the Ukrainian side was ready to start negotiations on a sustainable peace with Russia. The piece noted that "exhausted from the conflict Ukraine" is ready for a ceasefire if it is allowed to join NATO.

"Let's not confuse words. When the other side talks about peace, there is talk about freezing the conflict. Negotiations can be infinitely long, without recognizing Russian jurisdiction over the territories that became part of the Russian Federation, without denazification, without demilitarization of Ukraine," Solonnikov commented.

According to him, the West is now trying to repeat the scenario of the Minsk agreements. Thus, Kiev and its partners would like to stop the Armed Forces (AF) of the Russian Federation and buy time to transfer additional military aid to Ukraine. In addition, the political analyst added, Western countries can send their military contingent to the territory of Ukraine under the guise of peacekeepers and observers.

"That is, they are doing everything to freeze the situation at the current point. At the same time, they will continue sanctions pressure on Russia and after the Ukrainian army is reformatted, they will seek the return of territories from Moscow. This is the plan, there is nothing new. We initially said that the West and Ukraine may go for a suspension of the conflict to stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces if they are frightened," the newspaper's interlocutor explained.

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Before that, on December 3, The New York Times reported that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged the Ukrainian leadership to postpone talks with Russia until more military aid is received to allow Kiev to engage in a dialog "on strong positions." The next day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted in a conversation with Izvestia that there were no grounds for negotiations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin named the conditions for negotiations on Ukraine at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry back in June. Thus, Ukrainian troops should leave the territories of the new regions of the Russian Federation and Kiev should give up the idea of NATO integration.

The last round of negotiations took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4 of the same year, the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin was put into effect.