Peace Initiative to No results / Day

The idea of ​​setting a cease fire in Ukraine for at least 30 days to start talks on peace had been heard in advance, but Russia had always categorically rejected such a possibility, claiming that Ukraine would use the ceasefire to supplement the troops, to receive new weapons and arms, and so on. The hope that the ceasefire could still come to the beginning of May, when US President Donald Trump also publicly agreed to this idea. Although quite in a non -specific form, he promised to refuse to face « destructive » economic sanctions against Moscow.

However, specific steps on the US did not follow, so Ukraine and its main European allies decided to take them: Great Britain, France, Germany and Poland. On May 10, following a meeting in Kiyiv, the claim was announced to Russia to agree with the ceasefire, starting May 12, and otherwise promising to make new sanctions against Moscow. It was also hoped for the US joining them.

Meanwhile, Russia and its allies have openly ignored the demands of Ukraine, essentially returning in the first half of 2022 – at the then Istanbul negotiations stopped at the time. Obviously, both Russian President’s assistant Vladimir Medinsky was appointed to both the place of the negotiation and the person’s personality, who led the Russian delegation even during the previous Istanbul’s negotiations – it was necessary (and will continue to) to symbolize the fact that Moscow considers these conversations as a new start.

Similarly, Ukrainian President’s calls to Russian leader Vladimir Putin were ignored to see himself in Istanbul. It was a unlikely option from the outset. Russia’s diplomacy is traditionally hierarchical, all conversations always start with the lowest level, but the head of state only comes to finalize the results – to clarify the last uncertain nuances and sign the final agreement.

The media, however, also played the possibility that the Russian leader and the US president (who was at the time visited in the Arab countries) could be held in Istanbul and then the conversation of Putin and Zelenska would also become possible. However, diplomacy managers also viewed this as an extremely unlikely opportunity, stating that there was a need for serious preparations before this level of negotiations, which did not have any speech in this case.