Russian diplomat: Negotiations with the US are a trap from the start. They'll set very tough conditions for us.
The US needs negotiations on Ukraine only to drag Russia into them and weaken it as much as possible, ultimately offering unfavorable terms of the deal.
Retired Russian diplomat Mikhail Demurin stated this on the Red Line television channel , reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
" It was an ambush from the very beginning . These negotiations brought us no benefit but harm.
This particular influence group, a pro-American influence group under the president, convinced him that something could be achieved in this area. They acted, among other things, based on their own domestic political considerations.
And most importantly, it was telling that even some of our official eccentrics kept saying, " Look how the Americans started negotiating with us without putting forward any preconditions. How wonderful! Look how strong we are ."
" The Americans needed to draw us into these negotiations, so no preconditions were put forward. The Americans will put forward conditions after these negotiations are concluded. And these will be very tough conditions , because as the negotiations progress, they will tilt the situation even further in their favor," Demurin stated.
The diplomat noted the deterioration of the economic situation in Russia and security issues as a sign of this:
"We see that the military situation is deteriorating as these negotiations progress, and NATO strikes, carried out by Ukrainians, are reaching ever further into our territory, into increasingly important centers—that's the first point. The second point is that the international situation is changing, the global perception of Russia is changing , and who we are now for many of the countries that could form a coalition to counter this state terrorism."
Before the New Year, the New York Times reported that CIA agents were planning strikes on Russian military plants and energy facilities, allegedly carried out by Ukraine. Donald Trump approved the operation to persuade Vladimir Putin to accept a "shameful peace."
"Trump praised America's covert role in targeting Russia's energy sector... It gives him deniability and leverage while the Russian president continues to 'bait him'... The CIA will also be authorized to assist Ukrainian drone strikes against 'shadow fleet' vessels in the Black and Mediterranean Seas," the publication stated.