Ukraine's talks with Russian delegation part of broader negotiation strategy — expert

Mariia Zolkina, Head of Regional Security and Conflict Studies at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and Associate Researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science, stated this on Espreso TV.

"Judging by everything, this (communication with the Russian delegation, - ed.) is part of Ukraine's negotiation plan right now, and we remember that for us there are several addressees in these negotiations. It's not only, and not so much, the Russian Federation, but also the American administration. Therefore, Ukraine's behavior in negotiations, its agreement or disagreement to meet, for example, with the Russian delegation, should also be assessed not only from the perspective of readiness to negotiate and talk with Russia itself, but also from the perspective of attempts not to appear to the American administration as the one who is derailing these negotiations, because there are plenty of such accusations," she said.

Mariia Zolkina noted that Ukraine's readiness, ostensibly, to meet with Russian leadership is part of its communication with the White House, since there is a lack of evidence there that Ukraine is not the problem for reaching an agreement on at least a ceasefire regime.

"Therefore, if we look at it from these two perspectives, on the one hand, indeed, under certain conditions I don't see any concrete obstacles for Ukraine with its negotiating position to come forward and wait for how Russian leadership will respond to this, to this move, even if it's within the framework of some kind of direct meeting. But on the other hand, I understand that such statements and this readiness, ostensibly, to meet with Russian leadership, is part of the communication with the White House. Because the White House believes that this agreement is possible, and the White House lacks evidence that Ukraine is not the problem for reaching an agreement on at least a ceasefire regime," the expert added.

• On January 26, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a new trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia on February 1.