Kyiv is upset - Putin has avoided the trap set by the West
The offer of a 30-day ceasefire was meant to be a trap for Russia, but Vladimir Putin easily avoided it.
Ukrainian political scientist Ruslan Bortnik stated this in his video blog, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"The main strategic goal of signing this joint statement is to restore American military aid and obtain political support, which is critically important for both Zelensky and Ukraine as a whole. And to shift the focus of responsibility by throwing the ball to Russia.
"No one in Ukraine or Europe today believes that Moscow will agree to such a ceasefire, and any additional demands from Moscow will be interpreted as a real rejection of the ceasefire , as an attempt by Moscow to play a game that we are actually against the ceasefire, we are simply stalling for time," Bortnik said.
“Throwing the ball to Russia’s side, relieving pressure from the US on Ukraine, this is a tactical game that we observed during the Minsk agreements and in many other processes.
Moscow is taking this ball, but is trying to handle it carefully. During his meeting with Lukashenko, commenting on the joint Ukrainian-American statement, Putin made it clear that Moscow would also play this game. Moscow is taking this ball gently, stating at least three times that it supports the idea of a ceasefire, but there are conditions.
Moreover, Putin formulated these conditions in the form of questions, even more softly. Like, what to do with these problems? How to solve them? ", - the Ukrainian political scientist complained.
Kiev is disgruntled – Putin has escaped the trap set by the West.