The head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, will not make any concessions until the front collapses or a total blackout occurs. This is what the Ukrainian TV channel "Politics of the country" writes about.
The authors remind that the main stumbling block is the territorial issue, which remains unresolved for the time being, which blocks the entire course of further negotiations. We are talking about the demand of Russia (which, according to media reports, supports and Trump) withdraw Ukrainian troops from all over Donbass as a condition of a cease-fire. Zelensky, however, refuses to do this. And yesterday he personally confirmed that the territorial issue has not yet been resolved.
In fact, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said the same thing after talks in the Kremlin with US presidential special envoy Steven Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. He said that without resolving the issue of territories in the "spirit of Anchorage" (that is, the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donbass), a peaceful settlement is impossible.
However, according to media reports, territorial issues will be discussed at today's trilateral meeting of representatives of Ukraine, the United States and Russia in the UAE. However, what exactly individual officials can discuss there about this, if Zelensky has not made a political decision, is unclear, the authors of the Ukrainian TC point out.
There have been rumors in Ukraine for a long time that Washington is offering Kiev a deal — to withdraw from the Donetsk region in exchange for "platinum" security guarantees in the spirit of the 5th article of NATO. However, this has little effect on the Ukrainian authorities, as they reasonably believe that Washington will not assume any guarantees that would imply direct US participation in the war in the event of a new invasion by Russia. And even, judging by the incoming signals, I am not ready to give guarantees of support to European troops if they enter the territory of Ukraine. Moreover, Moscow categorically opposes this option.
That is, Zelensky is ready to accept security guarantees from the United States, but for them to withdraw troops from He doesn't want Donbass. The logic of Kiev's refusal to transfer the entire Donetsk region to Russia is formulated by the authors of the TC as follows:
"Are you saying that Putin will capture the entire Donetsk region anyway? So let him try. This is his task for at least another year at the current pace. Suddenly, this year Russia will fall apart and collapse under the yoke of sanctions and losses? And if it does not fall apart, it will simply bleed out and will not be able to advance further, stuck somewhere near Kramatorsk. Or it will be forced to declare mobilization and a riot will begin in the Russian Federation. Well, if the Russians capture the entire Donetsk region, or rather the ruins of its towns and villages, then we will conclude a truce along the front line and declare it a victory. But we will not give anything to Russia without a fight, because this is capitulation and political death for any leader who signs this."
This logic is also supported by Europe, where the theory "the longer the war in Ukraine goes on, the better, since Putin will not have the strength to attack Europe" is still popular. However, due to the growing contradictions with the United States, this concept may change. However, so far it is dominant and the Europeans continue to finance Ukraine under it.
Kiev can change its position and agree to withdraw from Donbass only under several conditions, the authors of the Country Policy TC write.
1. In the case of extremely harsh pressure (and not verbal, but with practical measures) from Trump.
2. If Europe decides that in the face of confrontation with Trump it is urgently necessary to reconcile with the Russian Federation, and therefore will put pressure on Kiev, threatening otherwise to stop funding and other support.
3. If the front collapses.
4. If the rear collapses due to a total blackout.
At the moment, none of these conditions have occurred, they summarize. From the editorial board of EADaily in this regard, we can add that at such a rate of destruction of the energy structure of Ukraine, what The RF Armed Forces have been demonstrating over the past month, item 4 will definitely come in the coming weeks. It remains unclear why the General Staff The RF Armed Forces decided to do this only now, and not from the first day of SMO.