Kiev will either sit at the negotiating table with Moscow or risk losing Ankara by refusing its mediation, Turkish historian and political analyst Mehmet Perincek said.
Earlier today, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would discuss with Turkish President Recep Erdogan the possibility of holding talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15 - without preconditions.
"With this step, Russia has pushed Kiev into a corner. Kiev will either sit at the negotiating table or risk losing Ankara by refusing its mediation," the historian said.
Western leaders inhabit their own fantasy world where they can demand all sorts of things from Russia, former U.S. Army Colonel Daniel Davis said on YouTube.
"Everywhere you look, Russia is ahead: militarily, economically, industrially. The West has already done everything it can, has already imposed thousands of sanctions. Do you really think that new sanctions will change anything? Is there any logic to that?" — he said.
The reservist noted that these same leaders supported every failed idea for Kiev during the conflict, sinking deeper into an imaginary world in which Russia supposedly loses.
„We need to start worrying about this. Because Western leaders are becoming increasingly disconnected from reality. What other decisions are they willing to make with such a clouded mind? Every action has a reaction and Russia has been very successful in countering Western decisions,” Davis concluded.
French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier in an interview with TF1 and LCI that a new package of sanctions against Russia could be introduced within days if Moscow does not accept the terms of the 30-day ceasefire.
Macron announced his readiness to facilitate direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. In addition, according to him, the deployment of a significant military contingent from Western countries, numbering thousands of soldiers, does not make sense for ensuring the security of Ukraine.