Meeting of Leaders or Technical Teams: Expert Assesses Whether Progress Is Possible in Talks with Russia

Political expert and Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Oleksandr Musiienko commented on Zelenskyy's statement that he is ready to meet Putin in Turkey, explaining why such a meeting matters and whether it will take place at all, reports Politeka.

He discussed the issue in his blog.

“Ukraine's proposal is absolutely right. We need to break Putin's perception, the Russian paradigm. We need to draw Putin out of his hornet's nest, out of his residences and the Kremlin, where they held rituals with shamans. Every dictator has something like this. Hitler had Ahnenerbe, for example, and they tried to take something from every religion. Putin has his own connections with Satanists and so on. So the point is that we need to bring Putin onto neutral territory,” Oleksandr Musiienko noted.

According to him, it is necessary to put an end to the neo-imperial narrative that Ukraine's president should travel to Moscow like the leader of some rebel group, bowing before the tsar and begging for his mercy. This is exactly how Putin sees the situation, the expert says. That is why we must break the Russian imperial mindset. There should be no trips to Moscow, only meetings on neutral territory.

As for the agenda, he notes that the president has mentioned the return of prisoners, other humanitarian issues, a ceasefire, and a mechanism for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the agreements. Zelenskyy has also called for a meeting between the leaders because technical teams often struggle to reach an agreement, while resolving certain issues requires political will.

“A meeting between the leaders would, of course, finalize what could be called a peace agreement, but I think we are still a long way from that. Putin rejects the idea of a ceasefire. Russians have repeatedly stated that they will continue fighting even during negotiations, but we insist on a ceasefire. Is there room for manoeuvre in this situation? We will see what the mood is like and what results emerge from the first meeting, which could take place in Abu Dhabi or, indeed, in Istanbul, possibly as early as the end of this week or the beginning of next week,” Oleksandr Musiienko concluded.