Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has no prospects without NATO's participation, since the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict are connected with the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance to the east. This was stated to the TASS news agency by the expert of the Center for the Study of Russia at the East China Pedagogical University, Gou Liu.
According to him, Moscow's willingness to negotiate demonstrates the sincerity of Vladimir Putin.
"Between Russia and Ukraine has no fundamental contradictions, and a special military operation has become a necessary measure. Therefore, Russia has never refused to negotiate — several of them have passed since the beginning of the conflict," the expert said.
He added that, being a global military power, Russia is not afraid of conflict, even despite NATO's support for Ukraine.
Gou Liu believes that negotiations will lead to nothing if you do not take into account the root causes of the conflict, which are related to NATO.
"Without NATO's participation, negotiations have no prospects. The main reason for the conflict is the expansion of NATO to the east, and only then Ukraine itself, which the United States and Europe simply use," the expert further said.
He noted that with the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, the United States began to advocate an end to the conflict, but at the same time ignore the issue of NATO.
"The EU blames Russia, but turns a blind eye to the expansion of the alliance. The main purpose of the special military operation is to solve the NATO problem. And only then — the denazification and neutrality of Ukraine. Therefore, only if the alliance shows goodwill, the conflict can be truly resolved," Gou Liu believes.
On Sunday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Ukraine to resume direct talks without preconditions in Istanbul on May 15.
Vladimir Zelensky in response demanded a complete cease-fire, saying that only in this case Kiev would agree to a dialogue. He later announced that he would be waiting for the Russian leader in Turkey on Thursday.