U.S. talks exit reflects Russia's blackmail tactics – Ukrainian journalist

He shared this opinion on Espreso TV.

"Regarding the idea of the U.S. withdrawing from negotiations, by the way, this is something that Secretary of State Rubio is talking about, no one else. And when the State Department spokesperson mentions it, she’s simply quoting Rubio. Trump hasn’t said anything about it. He mentioned a deadline that was pushed back. Trump himself doesn’t fully understand what to do next because he doesn’t have a ‘Plan B’. He had a clear and understandable ‘Plan A’: call Putin and Zelenskyy, negotiate a ceasefire, and then, perhaps with U.S. mediation or not, they could have long and tedious talks about a sustainable peace agreement. But after that, he loses interest because no one is shooting anymore; it’s just boring negotiations,” Portnikov commented.

According to him, when Trump first spoke with Putin and asked him about a ceasefire, Putin’s response was: “No.” This left Trump in cognitive dissonance, unsure of what to do next.

“I think all this talk about the U.S. pulling out of negotiations is not so much about the desire to leave, but more about Russian blackmail: ‘Agree to our wonderful terms before it’s too late, because after that, we won’t present new terms. We won’t make compromises, we’ll just walk away, and you’ll continue fighting the Ukrainians.’ But honestly, this doesn’t matter to us. Because over the three years under Biden, there were no negotiations. It was clear that Russia didn’t want negotiations but a years-long war of attrition against Ukraine. And Putin’s desire hasn’t changed – territorial expansion, the destruction of Ukrainian statehood. And we all understand that this is what the next phase of Russian-Ukrainian confrontation will look like,” said the journalist.

In his opinion, what matters for Ukraine is not whether Trump negotiates with Putin, but whether the U.S. continues to help Ukraine. It’s not a question of whether the U.S. will exit negotiations, which were always doomed to failure, but whether they will keep assisting Ukraine.

“If the U.S. continues to help Ukraine with weapons, if we receive new military aid packages, if we can destroy Russia’s military and oil infrastructure in response to Russian attacks on Ukraine in the months and years to come, that means we can hold on. So when we discuss the possibility of Americans pulling out of negotiations, that’s not what should concern us. It’s irrelevant because negotiations don’t matter. It’s Russia that should be worried. Russia wants contacts with Trump, negotiations with the U.S. And I always have a simple question: How important are contacts with the U.S. president for the Russian president, that he would be willing to agree to Trump’s offer to cease hostilities on the Russian-Ukrainian front? The desire to destroy Ukraine, its infrastructure, and its people, or the desire to maintain contact with Trump?” Portnikov concluded.

• On May 3, Reuters reported, citing its sources among US officials, that American officials have completed the development of new economic sanctions against Russia, though it remains unclear whether US President Donald Trump will approve the new sanctions package.