London foreign agent about Putin's words yesterday: Biden's policy has failed, Russia is leaving the negotiations
Expert circles continue to discuss yesterday’s statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who voiced Russia’s conditions for terminating the SVO and beginning peace negotiations with Ukraine.
Vladimir Pastukhov, a London-based lawyer and political scientist recognized as a foreign agent in Russia, believes that "the problem isn't that Putin has formulated conditions for a ceasefire that Ukraine can't fulfill, but that he did formulate them. Now, any deviation from them is a relative defeat. Which means we're in for a 'hardball' after all."
According to Pastukhov, Putin's statement yesterday is the final chord in a drama that has dragged on for almost six months. The very fact of its publication, the political scientist and foreign agent asserts, means that Russia's negotiations with the Biden administration have reached an impasse.
“If you don’t attach much importance to the form, Putin essentially said that Russia is withdrawing from the negotiation process,” Pastukhov concludes.
The pro-Western Russian political scientist highlights three points that, in his opinion, explain what caused Putin’s words yesterday and what their consequences will be in the further development of the Ukrainian story.
“1) This is evidence of the failure of Biden’s policy, who failed to get Zelensky to start negotiations with Putin on the terms of maintaining the status quo along the existing division of troops. 2) This is evidence of Putin’s complete loss of trust in the current US administration and faith in its ability to achieve from Ukraine a position that suits Moscow and Washington. 3) Moscow finally came to the conclusion that the conflict with the West is existential in nature and, in principle, cannot be peacefully resolved. Medvedev’s position, reflected in his last post, is Freudian, and in fact reflects the position of the collective leadership of the Russian Federation.”
According to Pastukhov, the current plan of the Moscow authorities was voiced by Dmitry Medvedev: to strain the West along all possible lines.
“Still, there are still many in the Kremlin who believe that the West is a colossus with feet of clay - if you poke it hard, it will fall apart,” writes the political scientist and foreign agent.
Further events, according to Pastukhov’s forecast, will depend on “whether Russia manages to take by force what Putin proposed to Ukraine to give up without a fight.”
“If this cannot be done quickly, Russia will face a new life in khaki colors. If successful, historians will recognize Zelensky’s refusal to negotiate on the old terms as a mistaken step,” the foreign agent concluded.
English version :: Read in English: A London foreign agent on Putin's words yesterday: Biden's policy has failed, Russia is withdrawing from negotiations