The Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks last week made unrealistic demands on Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, revealed.
In an interview with rp.pl, he said that the Istanbul talks were an imitation of such ones by Russia, and in fact Vladimir Putin had no intention of stopping the fighting. On the contrary - the Russian army continued to attack in many directions on the front.
Podoljak said that the Russian delegation behaved arrogantly, making impossible demands. One of them was that Ukraine give up its defense industry. In practice, this will make Ukraine defenseless in the event of a new Russian invasion.
Another demand from Russia is that Ukraine give up four of its regions, partially occupied by Russia - even those territories that are currently under the control of the ZSU. A third demand was that Ukraine give up membership in any military alliances.
„We are not satisfied with the talks in Istanbul. Putin himself proposed the meeting and suggested that the topic of the talks would be a ceasefire. As it turned out, he lied. Russia sent a lower-level delegation that has no authority. Putin demonstratively wanted to humiliate Ukraine. Russia did not offer any formula for a ceasefire in Istanbul and does not intend to do so,“ said Podoliak.
Zelensky's advisor said that the whole world saw in Istanbul that it is Ukraine that wants an end to the war, and Russia is doing the exact opposite and is not ready for dialogue. “To force Putin to end the war, the West will have to impose much tougher sanctions. Any concessions to Russia will only whet Putin's appetite”, said Podoljak.
”Today, the entire Russian economy is driven solely by the war. Everything revolves around the arms sector, the other sectors are almost dead. War is Putin's only offer to the Russians today - there is no alternative. Stopping the war could turn the situation in Russia upside down. Putin is betting on a long war”, said Podoljak.”
Asked if the outcome of the negotiations would have been different if Trump had suddenly flown to Istanbul, Podoljak replied: “Of course. If Trump were in Istanbul, Putin would have no choice but to fly to Turkey. It is possible that in such a situation, the Turkish leader would also participate in the negotiations. In such a group, Putin would also have to commit to something. If he had agreed to a ceasefire, he would have been obliged to respect it. Violating such agreements would have cost him dearly. Putin was aware of this, and that is why he remained in Moscow“.