U.S. lacks arguments to shift Putin’s negotiation stance – journalist Portnykov

Journalist Vitaliy Portnykov shared this view on Espreso TV.

According to Portnykov, while Trump could try to initiate negotiations with Putin, it’s unclear if Russia would even agree. And even if the Kremlin does agree, there’s no guarantee the talks would achieve any results.

“Russia keeps repeating the same demands it made before its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. In his recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov restated the same ultimatum-like conditions that he and Putin have been presenting to Ukraine and the West since 2022. Nothing has changed. The Russian leadership believes it can only address Ukraine and the West in the language of ultimatums,” Portnykov said.

Discussing Carlson’s interview with Lavrov, Portnykov suggested that Trump might be trying to gauge what Putin could propose to better prepare himself. This wouldn’t be the first instance of such a strategy — take the talks between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Putin, where the Russian leader simply reiterated the same points he’s been making all along.

“The Kremlin press service made sure to craft its narrative after the Scholz meeting: nothing new, the same demands — the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, plus demilitarization and 'denazification'. Lavrov repeated the same points during his conversation with Carlson. He hasn’t budged an inch toward any genuine negotiating position. This is exactly what Trump should be prepared for. Don’t think Putin will suddenly say, ‘Forget it, let’s freeze the conflict at the current lines. That’s good enough for us. We don’t need anything more from Ukraine, NATO isn’t a factor anymore, and we’re done discussing the territories we’ve claimed.’ Nothing in Putin’s words suggests any shift like that,” Portnykov emphasized.

He continued, “We might comfort ourselves by thinking this is just a tough opening position that could soften during actual negotiations. Maybe Russia is eager to engage Trump and is only taking such a hardline stance because it has nothing to lose by doing so. But that’s just wishful thinking.”

• For context, Tucker Carlson released an interview with Sergei Lavrov on the night of December 5-6.