Ukraine’s president has suggested he’s open to peace talks with Russia, softening his earlier refusal to negotiate with Moscow when President Vladimir Putin is in power — while sticking to Kyiv’s demands.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal to the international community to “force Russia into real peace talks” reflected a change in rhetoric for a man who signed a decree in late September stating “the impossibility of holding talks” with Putin. But since his preconditions appear to be non-starters for Moscow, it’s hard to see how Zelenskyy’s latest comments would advance any talks.
Zelenskyy reiterated that his conditions for dialogue were the return of all of Ukraine’s occupied lands, compensation for damage caused by the war, and the prosecution of war crimes.
Western weapons and aid have been key to Ukraine’s ability to fight off Russia’s invasion, which some initially expected would tear through the country with relative ease. That means Kyiv cannot ignore how the war is seen in the US and the European Union, according to political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
“Zelensky is trying to manoeuvre because the promise of negotiations does not oblige Kyiv to anything, but it makes it possible to maintain the support of Western partners,” Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Centre independent think tank, said.
“A categorical refusal to hold talks plays into the Kremlin’s hands, so Zelenskyy is changing the tactics and talks about the possibility of a dialogue, but on conditions that make it all very clear,” he added.
While support for Ukraine has garnered strong bipartisan support in the US Congress, a growing conservative opposition could complicate that next year if Republicans take control of the House in Tuesday’s elections.
Recent comments from Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, saying lawmakers would not cut a “blank cheque” to Ukraine have more clearly reflected the party’s growing scepticism about the cost of support for Kyiv.
In private, Republican lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine say there could be an opportunity to pass one more tranche of assistance this year with the current Congress.
Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus and Turkey early on in the war, which is now nearing its nine-month mark, and Zelenskyy initially even called for a personal meeting with Putin — which the Kremlin has brushed off.
The talks stalled after the last meeting of the delegations, held in Istanbul in March, yielded no results.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Kyiv has “repeatedly proposed [talks] and to which we always received crazy Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail”.
Russia resumed calls for talks after Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive in the east and the south of the country began in September — but since Putin illegally annexed four regions of Ukraine, Kyiv has rejected the possibility of negotiating with him.
Zelenskyy on Monday listed conditions for the dialogue to begin, including the “restoration of [Ukraine’s] territorial integrity ... compensation for all war damage, punishment for every war criminal and guarantees that it will not happen again”.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, stressed that Moscow is not setting any conditions for the resumption of talks and accused Kyiv of lacking “goodwill”.
“This is their choice, we have always declared our readiness for such negotiations,” Rudenko said.
In an interview released on Tuesday, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that Western countries wouldn’t push Kyiv to negotiate on Moscow’s terms.
“Ukraine is receiving rather effective weapons from its partners, first and foremost the US,” Podolyak said. “We’re pushing the Russian army out of our territory. And given that, it’s nonsense, to force us to negotiate, and de facto to concede to Russia’s ultimatum. No one will do that.”
In other developments:
The Ukrainian people have inspired the world with their extraordinary courage as they fight for their freedom and territorial integrity.
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) November 8, 2022
In my meeting with President @ZelenskyyUa, I made clear that the United States' commitment to Ukraine is unwavering.
Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/YK1sbBWk0b
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