In a move that will have surprised absolutely no-one, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined to attend the planned Russo-Ukraine peace talks today in Turkey, sending a delegation of assorted minions instead. Russian officials appear to previously have set conditions for Putin to reject Zelensky’s invitation to meet in Istanbul for bilateral ceasefire negotiations.
Russian Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev claimed that Zelensky’s invitation was “pure spectacle” and “comedy”, according to the Washington DC-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War. Kosachev claimed that high-level meetings are not organized in “such a difficult situation” and accused Zelensky of trying to blame Russia for what he claimed was Ukraine’s disinterest in negotiations.
It was further suggested that Russia cannot trust Ukraine in any negotiations because Ukraine has violated previous agreements and unilaterally imposed Russian ceasefires.
Putin’s decision not to attend personally has now led to a war of words between the two opposing administrations. The BBC has reported that Zelensky has described the Russian delegation to Istanbul as “stand-in props”, and that “Russia has unfortunately sent a rather low level delegation with an unclear mandate”.
In response Russian officials have retorted that “a clown and a loser is talking about respected people”. None of this is particularly helpful.
To be honest, hopes were never high that the Istanbul negotiations would deliver anything substantial, but this developing Mexican stand-off will be particularly disappointing for Trump and the US administration who have invested much time and effort in trying to bring the two sides together.
The truth is that Putin probably doesn’t want peace, not at the moment anyway. Russian officials continue to reiterate their call to base future negotiations with Ukraine on the early 2022 Istanbul protocols that included demands for Ukraine’s complete capitulation.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has also reiterated the Kremlin’s demands that any resolution to the war must result in regime change in Ukraine and restrictions against the West.
So we have impasse. Many are beginning to see it as yet another iteration in Trump’s faltering foreign policy initiatives. For all the successes in trade deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar during his current tour of the Middle East, the stalling of the Russo-Ukraine peace talks adds to his other failed and often fanciful schemes: “taking over” Gaza; admitting Canada as the 51st US state; annexing Greenland; and taking control of the Panama Canal among them.
And let’s not forget the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Gulf of America’, perhaps the most ridiculous and petty-minded of them all.
In the meantime the war in Ukraine trudges wearily into its fourth year, and misery, death, and destruction continues to affect thousands.
Both sides have more or less fought themselves to a stalemate in a bitter war of attrition where battlefield success is measured in tens of metres.
Despite the efforts of Trump and the West we are no nearer a lasting peace than we were when it all started in February 2022, in fact in many ways we are further away.
Trump will have to think again or, as he often does, turn his attention to something else when things don’t go the way he has planned. He is the ultimate political dilettante.
Lt Col Stuart Crawford is a political and defence commentator and former army officer. Sign up for his podcasts and newsletters at www.DefenceReview.uk