“Moscow is playing a cunning game with Donbas”: expert explained what Putin is really after

Political analyst Ruslan Bortnyk stated that the negotiation process has already moved into the stage of bargaining, particularly around Donbas, which Russia does not even need, but which is strategically important for Ukraine, Politeka reports.
He spoke about this in his blog.

According to the expert, Whitcoff acts as a link between Russia and the United States — he has regular contacts with the Kremlin, and soon there will be a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation in New York. Over the past few days, he reminds, Trump’s special envoy has made many statements, in particular, that Russia has put forward a concrete peace proposal, though it may not suit Ukraine — but there has never been such progress before, and it is important for Ukraine to agree, the proposal is on the table, and so on.

“This is the rhetoric. That is, they are going to New York in order to take into their hands some specific things, specific documents. Let me remind you that at the beginning of the week, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio was calling national security advisers — he spoke with Yermak, with European colleagues. So right now we are at the stage of substantive bargaining, when 10 grams here, 100 grams there, 1 kilogram there. Very concrete bargaining is going on over very concrete, practical things,” Bortnyk claimed.

And the bargaining, he notes, is of course around Donbas, which is now a kind of master key for the negotiation process. Moreover, Moscow, the expert argues, is playing a cunning game — it does not need Donbas, but rather a division of spheres of influence with the West. All the more, he adds, this whole story with Donbas is an attempt to push Ukraine to the edge of the abyss, because the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the non-occupied part of the region would end very badly.

“The calculation is to offer the West something that looks rational, harmless, even minor. For the West it is like giving small change on the street, you see? At the same time, it could be strategically dangerous for Ukraine’s internal stability; it could cement in public consciousness the idea of Ukraine’s military defeat in this war. And that would be a defeat only for Ukraine, not for the West. I believe Moscow is playing a cunning game with Donbas,” Ruslan Bortnyk concluded.

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