by Gevorg Mirzayan
[REGNUM] On July 23, the third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations took place. The parties were preparing to talk for two days, but in the end, they finished in one evening.
Less than 40 minutes. That's how long the direct conversation between the delegations took. And such a short time (several times less than in previous rounds) is explained not only by the fact that the discussion was conducted in Russian, a language that is understandable and native to all participants. And not only by the fact that some topics were discussed in advance at a 2.5-hour meeting between the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, and the representative of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov. This also happened because there were not so many topics on the agenda.
THE STATE OR THE TERRORISTS?
Some agreements have been reached, in particular on a new prisoner exchange. Moscow proposed an exchange of at least 1,200 for 1,200, and in the end the parties decided to include not only military personnel but also civilians in the exchange fund. Apparently, this will include three dozen abducted residents of the Kursk region, as well as Ukrainians whom Zelensky sent to prison for allegedly “working for Russia.”
The return of Russian citizens taken from the Kursk border area was discussed at previous talks, but Ukraine has done nothing to bring them back. Medinsky said that Kyiv's actions resemble hostage-taking, comparing them to the behavior of Hamas.
In any case, we will do everything possible to ensure that our citizens return home, but Kyiv's actions will help determine its characteristics - is it a state or a gang of terrorists taking hostages?
"It was the Ukrainian side's idea to exchange not only the military, but also civilians. They simply do not have enough captured Russian fighters to exchange them on a one-to-one basis, which means there is a deficit in the exchange fund. Therefore, they were ready to exchange Ukrainian citizens who are sitting in Ukrainian prisons for Ukrainian citizens who are in the Russian Federation," former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Spiridon Kilinkarov explains to Regnum.
According to him, this is a direct violation of the Ukrainian Constitution (the country has no right to extradite its citizens), but this is not the first time Zelensky has violated the basic law.
At the same time, Zelensky demands the return of the children who were allegedly kidnapped by Russia and about whom the Western press has written so much over the past three years.
In fact, "tens of thousands of children" turned into a list of 339 names that the Kiev regime handed over to Russia during previous rounds of negotiations. After checking, it turned out that of these 339, some were adults, and some had never crossed the borders of our country. The third part were real Ukrainian children found in Russia, and they are returning to Ukraine, but they are not returning to just anyone, but specifically to relatives. Those who were not around when Russian soldiers saved children from military action.
In turn, Medinsky's delegation gave Umerov a detailed, confirmed list of 20 Russian children who ended up in Ukraine or the EU. Moscow hopes that Kyiv will return them. This will demonstrate the extent of its real, not ostentatious, concern for children.
THREE WORKING GROUPS
Medinsky's team set the tone for the talks on Wednesday. In addition to the topic of exchanges, it proposed creating three working groups for online talks on military, political and humanitarian issues.
Such proposals destroy the Ukrainian strategy. On the one hand, Moscow constantly proposes to conduct constructive negotiations in new areas. And above all in the humanitarian sphere, which directly affects people's lives. On the other hand, it constantly proposes to deepen the negotiation process. To transfer it to a constructively new level. Exactly to the one that the Kiev regime disowns with bright and at the same time meaningless proposals.
"Medinsky proposes to systematize the work. Make it permanent, and not in the format of one-time events from the series "meet and run away," continues Spiridon Kilinkarov. And this would be serious progress in the negotiation process.
" In essence, Russia proposes to discuss the memoranda in a more substantive manner. To make the negotiations more specific, to divide the topics into different baskets. Professionals should discuss them on an ongoing basis at their level and agree on mutually acceptable formulations and solutions," Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, explains to Regnum.
" It is unlikely that the formation of working groups will lead to results. Moscow has no positive experience of negotiations with Kiev, which is still unconstructive and unprepared to comply with the obligations it has undertaken," Nikita Mendkovich, head of the Eurasian Analytical Club, explains to Regnum News Agency.
KYIV WANTS A BREAK
The West clearly wants something different from the talks. “ Russia and Ukraine have every incentive to use the talks to resolve low-level issues, such as prisoner swaps,” writes The New York Times. These decisions allow Zelensky to score political points at home, “but do not generate serious compromises that could persuade opponents to stop fighting,” the newspaper adds.
To put it simply, NATO countries want an urgent ceasefire. “The ultimate goal is a ceasefire that will pave the way for peace,” says Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
"Ukraine is now in desperate need of a ceasefire. At least to catch its breath," says Dmitry Suslov. But Moscow does not need another freeze, another iteration of the Minsk agreements. Which will not solve the problem and will only create comfortable conditions for the Kiev regime to once again break its commitments, and for the West to rearm Ukraine.
Russia, as the winning side, is ready for only a short pause in hostilities. One or two days to remove the fallen from the field, and at the same time to check whether Zelensky has learned to keep his word. That is, a short-term ceasefire is required to assess the very possibility of a long-term truce.
WHY ZELENSKY DEMANDS MEETING WITH PUTIN
Moscow is also not interested in unilateral concessions to the Kiev regime. For example, organizing a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Ukrainian regime, Volodymyr Zelensky, which Ukrainian negotiators insisted on. “ Ukraine has consistently advocated for a meeting of leaders. We were ready for this yesterday. Today we are ready. And we will be ready tomorrow,” Rustem Umerov wrote on the eve of the negotiations.
According to him, such a meeting will unblock the political process. In fact, it is intended to "unblock" the head of the Kiev regime personally. "Zelensky needs the summit for legitimization and to raise his status. Moscow is not interested in either," says Nikita Mendkovich.
Moscow does not need meetings for the sake of a meeting, Medinsky objects to Umerov. Russia only needs constructive measures, which Kyiv cannot provide here and now. The Russian country has repeatedly stated that a summit meeting is possible, but only after successful preliminary work by negotiating groups. And it is needed not to continue disputes, but to finalize agreements already reached.
But the most constructive thing that Ukrainians are capable of now is to dress decently. Observers write that almost all members of the Kiev delegation wore suits for the negotiations. “After the famous meeting between Trump and Zelensky, the West began to treat the military and informal fashion of Ukrainian officials with irony. So they had to change their dress code - so as not to look like thugs or marginals in the eyes of the Western public,” explains Nikita Mendkovich.
UKRAINIAN IMITATORS
"Ukraine wants to prove that Russia has no orientation toward a political and diplomatic solution. And as a consequence, to push the Donald Trump administration toward tough measures against Russia, toward new sanctions, toward increasing arms sales for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," says Dmitry Suslov.
It turns out that the third round of negotiations has become an imitation game. “Ukraine’s goal is to show obedience to Trump, to get money and weapons. Trump himself gets a chance to once again announce to the whole world that he is the coolest, since everyone obeys him, ” writes Russian journalist Roman Babayan in his Telegram channel.
The point is that Ukraine is not ready for anything other than imitation, trying to replace the essential, peaceful process with a demonstration one. Therefore, it proposes to urgently, "here and now", bring Putin and Zelensky together, urgently declare a ceasefire - without any conditions. Medinsky, however, nullified the plans of Ukrainian PR people with his constructiveness.
Ukraine's hypocritical behavior does not mean that Russia should suspend the dialogue. Even in its current imitation form, it has value. "This format does not cause us any particular difficulty. Moreover, in Istanbul we manage to agree on the exchange of prisoners and seriously wounded soldiers. For this alone, we need to sit down at the table," says Spiridon Kilinkarov.
In fact, this is what distinguishes Russia from Ukraine. "Negotiations on humanitarian issues show Russian humanity, as well as a constructive approach and readiness to move forward," says Dmitry Suslov. That is why during the negotiations, Vladimir Medinsky proposed unilaterally transferring another three thousand bodies of Ukrainian soldiers collected from the battlefield by Russian soldiers. Transferring them when Ukraine is technically ready to receive them.
If, of course, it is ready. Because the return of such a large number of bodies again is a serious image blow to the Ukrainian authorities, perfectly illustrating the gigantic losses of the Ukrainian army at the front. Therefore, the old lies will undoubtedly be used that “these are not our dead” and “we need more time to identify them.”