Don't expect a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky soon, because the Russian president is postponing it, and the reason lies at the front, writes focus.de.
Russian political scientists and various media are skeptical about the possibility of a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine soon, regardless of whether it is a bilateral format or a trilateral one with Donald Trump.
Political scientist Andrei Nikulin points out that each phase of the peace process “can be dragged out indefinitely through diplomatic and bureaucratic coordination“. This is possible even if US President Donald Trump increases pressure on Russia. “The devil is in the details, and they are enough to delay meetings and negotiations until at least mid-autumn“, Nikulin believes.
The reason Putin is postponing a meeting with Zelensky is simple - he wants to have the best possible negotiating position. And this is expressed in captured kilometers of Ukrainian land.
Putin is currently not interested in a ceasefire without additional territorial concessions from Ukraine, among other reasons, because his army is slowly but surely conquering territories. Only when Russia's negotiating position is improved through territorial gains and further conquests are no longer possible will negotiations make sense.
And trips to Moscow by Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and meetings like the one in Alaska, can be endless.
Donald Trump wants to end the war quickly, but in recent months Vladimir Putin has clearly shown the world his unwillingness to do so, and the ability to postpone and postpone a meeting with Zelensky - citing various reasons.