“At the moment we cannot declare that there is something very promising or a turning point,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Meanwhile, according to US intelligence, the Russian president is “not informed by his followers” of the war’s progress. Because the military leaders are “afraid” to tell him how “badly the Armed Forces of Moscow are doing”
The path to an armistice in Ukraine still appears to be an uphill battle: after Russian negotiators opened up in the wake of talks in Istanbul, the Kremlin’s cold showers dissolved. “At the moment we cannot state that there is something very promising or a turning point. There is a lot of work to be done,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Words limit optimism about the negotiations demonstrated by Kyiv but also by the envoys. Vladimir Putin: France also stressed that there is no “turning point” in the negotiations, and for US intelligence, the focal point will also be Putin’s isolation from reality: of course the Russian president will be “uninformed by his followers” on this issue. From the war, because the military leaders are “afraid” to be told how “badly the Armed Forces of Moscow are doing” (the war in Ukraine: For SKY TG24 – All updates in real time).
Point after 35 days of war
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So Moscow’s position will be wait-and-see. Ambiguity is also planted in the expectation of favorable military developments: after 35 days of war, the Russian forces ensure that they want to focus on the strategic “priority” of occupying the entire territory of Donbass, continuing the siege of neighboring cities. Eastern and Southern Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Mariupol. But reports from the ground testify to a new wave of dramatic missile attacks on Kyiv and Chernihiv, with Moscow promising “a radical reduction in military activity.” According to the Ukrainian defense, there is no large-scale withdrawal from those areas, but only limited movements of “the units that have suffered the greatest losses to supply them.” Finally, in the evening, according to the Pentagon, Russian troops were to begin to withdraw from the Chernobyl area.
Restriction and openness in negotiations
However, after the slowdown in the Kremlin, there are new opportunities for negotiators at various levels. “Ukraine has shown for the first time that it is ready to meet the conditions for building good-neighborly relations with Russia” and “discuss the initial demands,” said Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation. Sergey Lavrov spoke about the foreign ministry. Significant progress” in the talks, arguing that Kyiv “understands that the issues of Crimea and Donbass have been permanently closed.” Ukraine has rejected a categorical explanation, which again calls for the “restoration” of its “sovereignty” over those territories, an issue on which the distance between the parties remains clear. , which kept her out of negotiations for the time being.
US intelligence: Putin was misled by his followers
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And to make the picture more complicated, there was also news that for American intelligence, Putin would be cut off from reality on the ground. The Russian president will be “misled by his followers” about the progress of the war, because the military leaders are “afraid” to tell him how “badly the Armed Forces of Moscow” are doing. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky has returned to speak with Joe Biden. In an hour-long phone call, the US president confirmed “military, economic and humanitarian assistance” to Washington, and promised half a billion dollars in aid.
The axis between Moscow and Beijing
Meanwhile, Moscow is trying to strengthen the axis with Beijing. In the scenario of instability that threatens to deteriorate further after the announcement of the separatist region of South Ossetia of Georgia officially joining the Russian “historic motherland”, Lavrov went to China for a meeting of the heads of diplomacy of neighboring countries. He met with colleague Wang Yi: “Against the background of the complex international situation, Russia and China continue to strengthen strategic partnership and speak with one voice in global affairs,” he said.
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