ISW: Russia's refusal to provide a draft "memorandum" before the meeting in Istanbul disrupted negotiations
Kyiv • UNN
Russia did not provide Ukraine with a draft memorandum before the meeting in Istanbul, which delayed negotiations. Russia continues to demand significant territorial and political concessions from Ukraine.
Russia's refusal to provide Ukraine with its draft "memorandum" with terms of peaceful settlement before the meeting of the two delegations in Istanbul caused the "unproductiveness" of the meeting and further delayed the negotiation process. This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), reports UNN.
Details
Analysts also point out that the Russian version of the "memorandum" reflects the Kremlin's long-standing public demands for Ukraine to make significant territorial and political concessions, while Russia is not taking any steps in response.
The Russian memorandum is permeated with its long-standing demand that any peaceful settlement should be aimed at addressing the "root causes" of the war allegedly foreseen by Russia. ... These conditions mean demands for regime change, the establishment of a pro-Russian proxy government in Ukraine, and significant restrictions on Ukraine's ability to defend itself against future Russian aggression.
They also point out that Ukraine currently controls about twenty percent of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, including five large cities (Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka and Sloviansk).
Russian forces have not demonstrated the ability to capture cities of this size since the beginning of 2022, and the Russian military is almost certainly unable to conduct a successful offensive operation to capture one of these cities after three years of war and degradation.
Analysts conclude that Russia remains committed to demands that are nothing less than Ukraine's complete capitulation. At the same time, the Kremlin will continue to strive to achieve this goal as long as the Russian dictator believes that Russia can inflict a military defeat on Ukraine.
Let us remind you
On the eve of the talks in Istanbul, the second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia took place. During this meeting, the parties exchanged memoranda in which each outlined their vision of a peaceful settlement of the aggressive war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation, said that the parties agreed to carry out another exchange of prisoners of war. At the same time, the focus will be on the seriously wounded and young soldiers.