Supreme sabotage: what awaits the negotiations after Ukraine's demarche

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to continue contacts on Ukraine. On the evening of June 4, the presidents called for the fourth time after the Republican's return to the Oval Office. Today, it is Russia that is doing everything possible to achieve its goals through political and diplomatic means and save lives, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia. Meanwhile, Kiev is doing everything to force Russia to leave the negotiation process. He was threatened after Zelensky's statements that there was no point in continuing the Istanbul meetings at the current level. The West's desire to arm Ukraine is also hindering negotiations: plans for new supplies have already been announced at a meeting of the Ramstein contact group in Brussels.

Putin discussed the Ukrainian settlement with Trump and the Pope

On June 4, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump contacted by phone for the fourth time. The conversation lasted about 1 hour and 10 minutes. According to Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, it began with a discussion of the results of the second round of Russian-Ukrainian consultations held on June 2 in Istanbul. Vladimir Putin stressed that Kiev was trying to disrupt these negotiations by carrying out attacks against the Russian civilian population.

The Russian leader also touched upon the topic of strikes on military airfields of the Russian Federation. The American and Russian sides were focused on discussing these attacks, Ushakov noted. According to the American leader, the United States was not warned about the Ukrainian "Web" plan. On social media, Trump also mentioned that Vladimir Putin "has emphatically stated that he will be forced to respond to the recent attack on airfields." The US president said that his conversation with his Russian counterpart was good, but not one that would lead to immediate peace.

— As can be seen from the reaction of the US president, Moscow managed to convey its position to Washington, and Trump reacted to it, oddly enough, with a certain degree of understanding. In general, with Trump's return to power, there has been a trend in the Kremlin to actively resort to communication channels with the United States, which makes relations between the two nuclear powers more predictable and, to some extent, stable," said Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies.

In the understanding of the American leader, the Ukrainian issue should not determine the prospects for the development of relations between Moscow and Washington in other areas. In turn, Moscow is seeking Washington's understanding of its actions in Ukraine, in particular, the need to respond decisively to the attack on Russian strategic bombers.

That evening, Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Ukraine with the newly elected Pope Leo XIV. The Russian leader confirmed his interest in achieving peace in Ukraine through political and diplomatic means and stressed the need to eliminate the causes of the conflict for its full resolution. At the same time, Vladimir Putin drew the attention of the pontiff to Ukraine's desire to continue the escalation of the conflict, and also expressed the hope that the Vatican would be more active in advocating for religious freedom in Ukraine.

Ukraine is sabotaging the negotiation process

The Russian-Ukrainian dialogue is taking place in a rather tense atmosphere due to the subversive actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moreover, a potential third round of peace talks is in doubt due to Kiev's provocative statements.

— Based on their statements, Ukraine has repeatedly demonstrated its complete unwillingness to move towards peace. The desire to get a break in the war for rearmament and the systemic settlement that Russia insists on are, in practice, two big differences. (...) We believe that achieving OUR goals through political and diplomatic means is a much more effective approach in terms of saving lives, so we are doing our best. If Ukraine makes a different decision, it will be solely on Ukraine's conscience and within the framework of Ukraine's political responsibility," Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador—at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.

The situation became noticeably more complicated after Vladimir Zelensky's statements at a briefing on June 4. He called the ultimatum memorandum on the settlement of the conflict, which was presented by the Russian side at the talks in Istanbul on June 2. Among the ultimatum demands, Vladimir Zelensky referred, in particular, to the point on recognizing Crimea, the LPR, the DPR, the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions as part of the Russian Federation. Moreover, Zelensky actually abandoned the ongoing negotiations.

"I consider it meaningless to continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that does not solve anything further, I think so. In my opinion, exchanges [of prisoners] are going on and should go on. The Russians are not ready for a cease—fire, at least that level of delegations is not ready to resolve it," the Ukrainian leader said at a meeting with reporters.

At the same time, Zelensky talks about a possible meeting of the leaders and a discussion of a cease—fire - this only underlines that the Kiev authorities are in a losing position and cannot make consistent and logical decisions.

The results of the negotiations were also discussed at a meeting of the President of the Russian Federation with members of the government on June 4. Vladimir Putin was informed by the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, about the agreements reached, including the exchange of prisoners of war, the wounded, and the return of Ukrainian children to their families. Despite the statements of the Ukrainian side, Russia should continue negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the same meeting.

"Despite the new major criminal provocations in the last few days, I would consider it important not to succumb to provocative actions clearly aimed at disrupting [negotiations] and receiving weapons from European countries,— the head of Russian diplomacy stressed.

Indeed, the terrorist attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation, coordinated from Kiev, were aimed at disrupting the negotiations in Istanbul, Vladimir Putin stated. In this regard, Ukraine's demands to organize a summit with the Russian Federation sound strange, the president noted.

— Who is negotiating with those who rely on terror? With terrorists? "What is it?" he asked himself.

Putin also reacted to Ukraine's repeated refusal to hold a truce for two or three days on humanitarian grounds.

— This is not the first time this has happened. This does not surprise us, but only convinces us that the current Kiev regime does not need peace at all. Peace for him most likely means the loss of power. And power for this regime, apparently, is more important than peace and than the lives of people whom, apparently, they do not consider their own," the president said.

Russia must secure its civilian facilities by all means, says Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.

— Method number one: guarantee your own military capabilities. The second way is to try to make the Kiev regime refuse to launch attacks on our non—military facilities, using various methods of international pressure for this," he stressed.

Europe continues to arm Ukraine

Throughout the entire negotiation process, Russia had to exercise maximum restraint in order not to disrupt it and leave first, contrary to the wishes of its counterpart, said Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies.

— While Moscow showed restraint, Kiev stubbornly demonstrated that they were not afraid of escalation, including by attacking Russian strategic bombers carrying nuclear weapons, part of Russia's nuclear triad. However, it would be wrong to assume that Kiev is solely behind this. Such operations are based on the cold calculation of Western nuclear countries, which would benefit from not missing the opportunity available today to reduce Russia's nuclear potential through the hands of Ukraine, the expert believes.

The desire of Western countries to arm Ukraine even more does not contribute to peace negotiations. The meeting of the contact group in the Ramstein format, which ended on June 4 in Brussels, was devoted to these plans. It is noteworthy that it was held for the first time without the participation of the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth.

— Europe is not preparing to disrupt the peace talks, Europe is doing just that. What is happening now in the context of Ramstein is just a confirmation of the traditional European course," Dmitry Novikov told Izvestia.

In particular, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte publicly voices mutually exclusive things.

"We need to achieve a lasting and lasting peace," he said before the meeting, "But in the meantime, we need to make sure that you [Ukraine] have everything you need to stay in the fight.

The United Kingdom and Germany became the main voices of the summit instead of the United States. They were the ones who spoke about new measures to support Ukraine. The United Kingdom will increase the supply of UAVs to Kiev by 10 times, bringing the number to 100,000 this fiscal year. In addition, London will increase investments in Ukraine's unmanned technologies to £350 million, as well as allocate £247 million for the training of the Ukrainian military in the UK.

In turn, Berlin promised to transfer the first allegedly jointly produced long-range systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a few weeks.

"The advantage is that this year it will be possible to produce a significant number of long—range weapons," said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

The Netherlands has promised 400 million euros for ensuring maritime security to Kiev. The assistance will include 100 vessels, patrol boats, transport boats, interceptor vessels, as well as more than 50 marine drones.

"We are closely monitoring how Europe's position is changing towards a tougher line, drawing appropriate conclusions and acting accordingly," Grigory Karasin, Chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, commented on the meeting of the contact group in Brussels.

At the same time, Andrei Ermak came to the United States to demand the introduction of new anti-Russian sanctions. That day, he met with Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Later, in a conversation with Keith Kellogg, who oversees Washington's policy towards Kiev, Ermak mentioned the issue of military assistance, and with him he discussed potential sanctions against the Russian Federation. The next day, Ermak asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to tighten the restrictions.

— The long-term forecast for Kiev is quite pessimistic, and its current ability to continue resisting in the moment and inflict quite painful media blows on Russia is not disputed. However, in a war of attrition that can go on for several more years, Ukraine's prospects are poor," says Prokhor Tebin, director of the Center for Military—Economic Research at the Institute of World Military Economics and Strategy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

According to the expert, Ukraine's potential withdrawal from the negotiation process would be a frivolous and unwise decision.