Political scientist on Istanbul talks: Trump should "read" them as mockery of himself
Kyiv • UNN
Political scientist Oleh Lisnyi believes that the negotiations in Istanbul are a continuation of Russia's mockery of Donald Trump.
Russia continues to stall for time. US President Donald Trump should interpret yesterday's talks in Istanbul as a continuation of Russia's mockery of him and react accordingly. This opinion was expressed to a journalist from UNN by political scientist Oleh Lisnyi.
That's exactly it, Russia continues to stall for time. The difference from what happened at previous consultations, because I can't call them negotiations due to the fact that the level of the Russian delegation is below par, is that, as the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (Heorhiy Tykhyi – ed.) said, Medinsky and his company stopped lecturing us, telling history in their own interpretation, and behaved more or less calmly.
Important achievements in the Istanbul talks
Lisnyi emphasized that an important result for Ukraine is the agreements on exchanges, as the negotiations accelerate them.
"If you look at the results, one of them is very important for us, it is systematic – this is the humanitarian component. This is very important and cannot be dismissed in any case, because there are voices saying that exchanges are already happening. Yes, work on exchanges is constant, but this case has accelerated them," Lisnyi said.
The political scientist reminded that Russia rejected other proposals regarding a comprehensive ceasefire and holding a meeting at the level of leaders.
"The rest is nothing, because the Ukrainian side proposed to launch a comprehensive ceasefire regime and hold a meeting at the level of leaders. All of this was rejected. The Russians used their prepared statement, which they also tried to promote earlier – these are temporary and short-term ceasefire regimes: 24 hours, 48 hours to pick up the wounded, the fallen, and then present it as one of the positive moments achieved during the negotiations and loudly call it a ceasefire regime," said Lisnyi.
The political scientist noted that the Ukrainian delegation is experienced and understands who they are dealing with, so they said they would work on it, but it is not a ceasefire regime.
"The timing of these consultations (negotiations – ed.) indicates that Trump should consider this meeting as a continuation of Russia's mockery of him and react accordingly. Whether he will do so is a big intrigue," Lisnyi said.
Trump's role in negotiations with Russia
The political scientist positively assessed the tactical step of the Ukrainian delegation regarding the proposal to hold a meeting at the level of leaders with the participation of Donald Trump.
"I believe that this is a good tactical move by the Ukrainian side to mention Trump within the framework of these consultations (negotiations – ed.). He likes it when people talk about him," said Lisnyi.
The political scientist reminded that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated earlier that Trump told him he would attend potential peace talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Turkey if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin also agreed to participate.
Therefore, we use this concept to attract Trump's attention to the event and demonstrate goodwill. We are ready to go in August. Why in August? Because it is within the 50-day ultimatum, it is the desire to resolve this issue positively for ourselves and the world by September. However, our enemy believes that they are making progress on the front, that they will be able to pressure Ukraine and show Trump in the fall how "great" they are.
Lisnyi reminded that at least two American ministers and senators are saying that day 51 could greatly surprise Putin.
"In fact, Russia is doing everything to make day 51 an unpleasant surprise for them," the political scientist emphasized.
Context
Yesterday, July 23, negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place in Istanbul.
The Ukrainian delegation was headed by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov.
The Russian delegation was headed by Putin's assistant, Vladimir Medinsky.
Russia agreed to work on returning prisoners of war who have been in captivity for more than 3 years. The delegations also discussed and both sides agreed to conduct regular sanitary exchanges of prisoners of war.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov emphasized that more than 1,200 people will participate in the humanitarian exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
During the negotiations, Ukraine proposed to the Russians to hold a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in August.
However, as reported by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Heorhiy Tykhyi following the negotiations, there is no deadline for the meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian dictator Putin. Zelenskyy is ready to meet with the Kremlin leader even tomorrow.
Also, Tykhyi stated that Russia does not hide that it does not want a ceasefire, because, in its opinion, Russian troops are advancing on the front and defeating Ukraine, but this is not the case.
Ukraine insists on an unconditional ceasefire - Umerov23.07.25, 22:18 • 14565 views