Americans can’t resolve issues with Russia without Ukraine and EU, says political technologist

Political technologist, managing partner of the National Crisis Group Taras Zahorodniy commented on the first round of negotiations, saying Americans are facing one failure after another. 

He expressed his opinion during a broadcast on Espreso.

"These are diplomatic gestures. In reality, nothing is happening, and the Americans are failing repeatedly; they can't do anything. The main thing here is that Ukraine has made its position clear: 'We begin with a ceasefire at sea, on land, and in the air.' The Russians are putting forward completely unacceptable demands that can't be realized. Even the Americans can't make them happen. They (the Russians) are demanding that Ukraine stop receiving Western aid, cease mobilization, and receive no help. Well, the EU has already said no; they will continue. Even Trump has acknowledged that he will be ready to continue intelligence sharing, but stopping aid to Ukraine is not possible, as the reaction regarding the US defense industry worldwide is already bad. I read that the French are very happy to meet the needs of Portugal and Canada with their Rafale fighters. Well, the planes may be somewhat inferior, but at least they will fly, unlike the F-35," he said.

Zavhorodnyi emphasized that the Americans cannot resolve anything with the Russians without Ukraine and the European Union, particularly regarding freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.

"For example, regarding the Black Sea, what the Russians are demanding, as they say, freedom of navigation. But how will you resolve that without Ukraine? Ukraine itself ensured freedom of navigation. The SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) stamped those Sea Baby drones and forced (the Russian fleet) into Novorossiysk. The issue is how this agreement with the Americans will be resolved without Ukraine. Well, keep negotiating, meet 150 more times, and so on. So, we see that they are at an impasse but refuse to admit it," the political technologist believes.

• On March 11 in Jeddah, a meeting of Ukrainian and American delegations took place, after which Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, and the US agreed to resume intelligence sharing and security assistance. 
• On March 13, Putin stated that Russia would agree to halt hostilities in Ukraine, but "this must lead to long-term peace." Meanwhile, Andriy Kovalенко, Head of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, noted that a statement about "nuances" is typical behavior for Russia in international politics. "It’s important to understand that Russia's information strategy will always aim to blame Ukraine for their violations, put forward strange demands, and do the same things as they did during Minsk," he said.
• On March 18, US President Donald Trump had a two-hour phone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, during which they agreed that the path to peace would begin with a cessation of energy infrastructure strikes. Moscow demanded the suspension of mobilization in Ukraine and the rearming of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during a potential ceasefire.