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Darkness at the end of the tunnel: Russia has not received signals from Ukraine about its readiness for negotiations
The resumption of the negotiation process, which has been signaled more than once by all parties to the Ukrainian conflict, is being postponed again. Despite the humanitarian exchanges and the truce by May 9, the dialogue has not just reached an impasse — it actually does not exist. Moscow has not received any signals from Kiev about its readiness to move forward in the settlement, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. On the contrary, on the night of May 17, Ukrainian Armed Forces militants attacked the Russian capital and the Moscow region with drones, killing people and damaging residential buildings and businesses. The Kiev regime simply does not benefit from peace, which it seeks to demonstrate with its terrorist actions. However, some experts believe that the peace process may resume in the summer, during the election campaign in the United States. The article in Izvestia tells how far the Ukrainian conflict is from being resolved and why Kiev is still avoiding negotiations.
Are Russia and Ukraine ready to return to dialogue
As expected, after the May truce, Russia and Ukraine resumed hostilities. On May 7-8, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov visited the United States. According to Vladimir Zelensky, he discussed "the intensification of the diplomatic process" with the main American negotiators, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son—in—law Jared Kushner. In particular, the parties discussed possible formats of meetings at the leadership level to end the conflict.
Special Envoys of the President of the United States Jared Kushner and Steven Witkoff
Moscow is aware of Umerov's meeting with the Americans, but as of today Kiev has not received any signals to resume negotiations for a final resolution of the conflict, Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, participant in the last round of meetings with Ukraine in Geneva, told Izvestia.
— We have not received any signals from Kiev about the readiness to make substantial progress in the settlement process. In terms of creating conditions for effective negotiations, Zelensky should give the Ukrainian Armed Forces an order to cease fire and leave the territory of Donbass and the Russian regions. Then it will be possible to move on to discussing the specific parameters of a truly comprehensive, just and sustainable world. It will be a difficult negotiation process, but we are ready for it," the diplomat said.
He reiterated that Moscow's approach is based on addressing the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and the agreements reached in Anchorage. This refers to the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska last August. The media has repeatedly written that the "spirit of Anchorage" is that Russia agrees to freeze the conflict along the front line in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, insisting on the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donbass. The demand for Ukraine's withdrawal from the DPR has been repeatedly voiced from the Kremlin.
At the same time, on May 13, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, stressed that Moscow demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from all Russian regions - this condition was announced by Vladimir Putin back in June 2024, speaking at the Foreign Ministry. However, Kiev is not ready to make any territorial concessions right now. Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will not voluntarily leave Donbass.
Despite this, Moscow and Kiev continue to work together on the humanitarian track.
"At this stage, we are actively working to address humanitarian issues, including prisoner of war exchanges, the return of civilians, and family reunification, primarily of children with their parents," Mikhail Galuzin said.
Prisoner exchanges are conducted regularly. The last one took place on May 15 with the mediation of the UAE: each side returned 205 of its military. Earlier, the Kremlin confirmed that it had agreed with Donald Trump's proposal to arrange a 1,000-for-1,000 exchange during the May truce. In total, Russia has returned 3,724 servicemen from Ukrainian captivity, the now ex-Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Tatyana Moskalkova, reported on May 12 during her final report to Vladimir Putin.
"Not a single day goes by without discussing prisoner of war exchanges," Shamsail Saraliev, a representative of the parliamentary coordination group on special military operations, a State Duma deputy, told Izvestia. — This is exactly what their relatives expect from us. And, of course, when the guys are already returning, you can exhale.
However, Ukraine still does not show its readiness to reduce the intensity of hostilities. The air defense forces shot down 556 drones over the Russian regions on the night of May 17, the press service of the Ministry of Defense reported. Attempted attacks were recorded in 15 regions of the country, as well as over the waters of the Black and Azov Seas.
More than 120 drones were intercepted in the Moscow region during the day, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Due to the threat of UAVs, more than 50 aircraft went to alternate airfields, and 32 flights had to be delayed, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation said. 12 people were injured from the strikes, including a shift of construction workers at the Moscow Oil Refinery. There are dead people in the Moscow region: a woman died in Khimki, and two men in Mytishchi also became victims of Kiev aggression, said the governor of the region, Andrei Vorobyov.
The attack on Russian civilians is a serious terrorist act that does not work to resolve the conflict, Vladimir Shapovalov, Deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, told Izvestia.
"A peaceful settlement is not in the interests of the Kiev regime, and it constantly demonstrates this," the expert believes. - Therefore, the development of the peace process is more likely to be the result of the successful advancement of the Russian Armed Forces and the solution of military tasks in the zone of a special military operation.
By the way, the appearance of some drones was also recorded in Latvia. An unknown drone allegedly flew into the country's airspace on the morning of May 17 and then left it. NATO fighter jets took to the skies to patrol. Earlier, four empty oil tanks were damaged due to a drone crash at an oil depot in the Latvian city of Rezekne. This incident led to the resignation of the government of Evika Silini. Kiev later admitted that the downed UAV was Ukrainian.
Will negotiations involving the United States resume?
The key mediator, the United States, continues to play an important role in the negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine. The last time Washington participated in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine was on February 17-18 in Geneva. A little over a week later, conflict broke out in the Middle East, which led American negotiators to focus on the war with Iran. In this regard, the negotiation process between the Russian Federation and Ukraine was put on pause, but did not collapse, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.
This pause has been going on for three months now. In an interview with Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that during the spring period, the negotiation process, which began actively in Geneva in February, "lost momentum and stagnated." According to him, this happened for a number of reasons.: Ukraine felt more confident at the front after the winter, and Russia received financial support due to rising oil prices. At the same time, at the end of April, even the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, personally admitted that Russian troops were advancing almost along the entire front line.
Nevertheless, Rubio confirmed that the White House aims to resume full-fledged trilateral contacts and is ready to continue to act as a key mediator.
Today, Washington remains in touch with both Moscow and Kiev. On April 29, Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukrainian issue and the May truce with Donald Trump during a telephone conversation. The other day, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov allowed another visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner. As already mentioned, they had previously met with Rustem Umerov, so shuttle diplomacy comes to the fore.
Probably, the American negotiators continue to put pressure on Kiev, talking about the need to leave the Donbass, Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club, suggested in a conversation with Izvestia. Umerov, in turn, most likely asked to keep the supply of American weapons in the same volume. Now they continue to be carried out through the NATO PURL mechanism, when the Europeans buy weapons from the United States for Kiev.
— Especially in the context of the conflict in the Persian Gulf, it is very important for Umerov and Zelensky that the United States confirm the commitments they made before the start of this conflict with Iran. First of all, this concerns the most complex systems where there are no European analogues (Patriot systems) and support in the field of military intelligence," the expert noted.
In the summer, the activity of American diplomacy may increase, especially if an agreement is reached with Iran. Ahead of the November congressional elections, Trump will probably want to show what he has achieved on the Ukrainian track, so Washington may initiate a new round of trilateral negotiations in the summer, Kortunov said. "Given that there are not many achievements in other areas, foreign policy is now becoming an important part of the Republican Party's campaign in the midterm elections," he believes.
However, the opposite situation may happen if the United States decides to distance itself from the conflict as much as possible, so as not to once again focus on the lack of visible progress, says political analyst Denis Denisov.
— Trump cannot provide a success story for resolving this conflict. As a result, any mention of him or discussions about him will be negative for Trump and the Republican Party," he told Izvestia.
Anyway, even if the next round takes place, the parties are unlikely to be able to reach a compromise right away. Recently, Ukraine did receive a loan from the EU of €90 billion, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on the alliance to provide an additional $60 billion in 2026. Such support is unlikely to force Kiev to make territorial concessions. Moscow, in turn, does not agree to negotiate without the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donbass. Thus, we have to admit that the peace process is unlikely to get off the ground in the near future.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
