Having determined just before leaving for Istanbul the composition of the Russian delegation at the low level of the team that negotiated there in 2022, Putin emphasized the important for him continuity of the subject of negotiations. Zelensky continued the show “Come out if you are a man!” until the last. Already in Turkey, he continued to call out his rival and the world community.
Everything ended awkwardly – the man turned out to be Medinsky. There is no doubt that the Kremlin delegation has all the necessary credentials. It is a working team, its members have enough time for a long run – that is their official function. The only exception is Kostyukov, the chief of Russia’s military intelligence service. With such a position, it is hardly possible to sit at the table round after round for a long time.
And Putin is in the mood for a long period of negotiations. Medinsky confirmed this in a press statement before the talks: to eliminate the basic root causes of the conflict. I won’t repeat the details, they are about Ukraine’s borders, the Russian language, NATO and the reduction of the army.
As for the powers of Zelensky’s team headed by Defense Minister Umerov, there is no precise information yet. This is a crucial issue. The Ukrainian president emphasized that the delegation has the mandate, and the number one issue is the ceasefire. If it is the only one, it is not an agenda at all. There will be no negotiations.
But even when discussing the ceasefire, it is possible to highlight the issues of the regulations of separation, the definition of mediators, observers or even peacekeepers, the fate of Kherson, the definition of terms – the line of demarcation, borders and so on. Shipping in the Black Sea can be discussed at the same time – it is not a taboo topic for Kyiv. Thus, it is possible to enter the negotiations at low speed, if only for the sake of discussing family reunification, exchanges of hostages, prisoners and other humanitarian issues. No one prevents at the same time from discussing the fate of Ukraine and the “basic root causes of the conflict.”
If such issues are beyond the competence of the Ukrainian delegation, the parties will very quickly break off negotiations and start “just fighting”.
