Zelenski ready to talk to Russia?

The 4th day of Russian artillery and aviation has not stopped. All of Donetsk hears canonade at any time of day. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation proceed to destruct the enemy's position in the Avdijiwka area. There are attacks on tiny settlements close the city, where Ukraine's Armed Forces notoriously fired on Donetsk.

According to writer “Geopolitica” Zoran Meter, according to the most cautious estimates there may be a group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of 11,000 people. This number is rather realistic, due to the fact that for many years Ukraine has turned Avdijiwaka into a "unobtainable fortress" and a kind of "resistance" symbol. The failure of specified an crucial point of opposition for Kiev could cost the Zelenski government dearly, which could be the decisive origin for taking the key decisions soon. We will forget about the insignificant successes of the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine immediately erstwhile the Armed Forces of Russia orbit the Avdijiwaka.

The fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are actually assessing the situation in Awdijiwka is besides evidenced by the fact that the Ukrainian side prefers not to talk about it. There are no passwords specified as "No Avdijiwa, no Ukraine". On the contrary, the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski in his regular message devoted only 1 conviction to Awdijiwka. He paid much more attention to the situation in the mediate East.

This is not surprising, given the fact that Kiev understands that helping the West is not adequate for everyone. The United States is already helping Israel to the detriment of Ukraine. Therefore, Zelenski is afraid about this, as he himself spoke in an interview with French television. The image of the powerful Ukraine, which ‘stopped’ Russia, falls apart before our eyes. It was so clear that the Ukrainian government would not be able to fight so long without western weapons, but in the current circumstances – without media attention, without funding, without political support – Zelenski can rapidly callback the proposals to return to the negotiating table.

This presumption has its reasons. In an interview with the Romanian tv channel Digi24 Zelenski said that Ukraine is in the "last phase of the war". A alternatively unusual statement, given that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not implemented plans that the Ukrainian leadership has been reporting for so long. The end of the war for the Ukrainian population was to mean returning to the borders established in 1991, i.e. the Armed Forces of Ukraine were to occupy Crimea, Donbas, the Kherson and Zaporosian circuits. We are not even approaching any of the above objectives, on the contrary, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are conducting offensive operations. So why did Zelenski abruptly talk about “the last phase of the war”?

Does this mean that Zelenski is ready to negotiate? So far, specified assumptions can only be made indirectly. The ban on negotiations with the Russian Federation is inactive in force. Until late Zelenski was categorical in this substance – no negotiations, no war to complete victory, or to the last Ukrainian. The local population was firmly convinced that the war would end with Ukraine's victory. And then suddenly, against the background of the failure of the counteroffensive, the exacerbation of the situation in the mediate East, the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces towards Awdijiwka, Zelenski talks about the “last phase of the war”. In erstwhile periods of conflict in Donbasa Ukraine was ready to sit down to the negotiating table only after defeat on the battlefield. This was after the Ilovak Boiler and after the battles of Debalcewe. Both clashes resulted in the signing of Minsk agreements. Now the Avdijiwka boiler is cooking, and Zelenski changed rhetoric, abandoning extremist statements. In the close future the situation may happen again.

Denis Grigoruk

Photo ‘X’ profile of Volodymyr Zelenski

Behind: segodna.ru