For the Russians, this was another diplomatic failure! Vladimir Putin missed his chance for peace

The empty chair in Istanbul, reserved for Russian President Vladimir Putin, has become a symbol of Russia's unwillingness to end its war against Ukraine. This is what journalist and author of the book "The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made Volodymyr Zelensky a Leader", Simon Schuster, wrote in his article for Time, analyzing how Putin missed his chance for peace.

Before heading to Turkey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly called for a personal meeting with Putin for several days, but the Russian president never showed up in Istanbul.

"Demonstrating contempt for the peace process and thus allowing Zelensky to achieve a tactical victory.“ “For the Russians, this was another diplomatic failure”, writes Schuster.

The journalist also notes that US President Donald Trump and his envoys, trying to achieve a ceasefire, gave Moscow numerous opportunities to win the Americans over to their side, but Putin missed every one of them.

The author calls the most valuable opportunity that Putin had the last day of February, when a fight broke out between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office. Relations between Kiev and Washington were then threatened, and Trump temporarily suspended American aid to Kiev. Analyzing the subsequent course of events, Simon Schuster points out that Putin seemed to have succeeded in the struggle for Trump's favor, but on April 13 the situation changed - on that day Russia launched strikes on the center of the city of Sumy with ballistic missiles. Less than two weeks later, on the night of April 24, the Russian Federation carried out one of the deadliest airstrikes on Kiev.

This wave of attacks made Trump look naive and deluded, especially given his previous statements that Moscow was serious about the peace process. This caused the American leader’s tone towards the Kremlin to change dramatically, notes Schuster.

Putin continued to kill civilians even after Trump and Zelensky proposed a 30-day ceasefire to prepare for talks. On the diplomatic front, this decision cost the Kremlin dearly, according to Schuster. The journalist believes that this gave Zelensky a chance to get Trump on his side again. The Ukrainian leader used it on April 26, at the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican. That day, during a brief conversation with Trump, Zelensky directly told the American president that Putin only understands the language of force.

A golden opportunity for Putin appeared after Trump and European leaders called on him to come to Istanbul for peace talks. However, the Russian president sent a delegation of diplomats and aides to Turkey.

The consequences of such actions by the Kremlin could be severe, believes Simon Schuster. Moscow urgently needs to ease sanctions, but they could, on the contrary, be strengthened. Europe has already announced its plans to tighten sanctions after Putin's refusal to participate in the peace process, and Trump may do the same.

Today, May 16, direct negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations are expected in Istanbul. The Ukrainian delegation will be led by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and will also include representatives of the Foreign Ministry, the Presidential Administration, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the General Staff.

Earlier, on May 15, the Kremlin confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not come to Turkey for the talks with Ukraine. Instead, he sent his assistant Volodymyr Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, and Chief of the General Staff Igor Kostyukov to Istanbul.