Believing Putin won't negotiate while Russia advances is huge mistake — expert

Ivan Kyrychevskyi, serviceman with the 413th Special Operations Forces Regiment Raid and Defense Express expert, stated this on Espreso TV.

"There's a problem with people who believe Putin will seek negotiations once the Russian army stops advancing—they're making a serious mistake. They assume that halting Russia's military progress is sufficient to bring them to the negotiating table. The Russians have already developed a strategic framework in which we are their mortal enemy for decades to come. Consequently, they will continue waging war against us in various forms for the foreseeable future. Even if we manage—God willing—to build the necessary military capabilities to push the Russians back in strategically important areas, forcing them to retreat gradually, even just a few dozen meters per day but consistently—even then they still won't come to negotiations," he said.

Ivan Kyrychevskyi noted that Ukrainians should prepare themselves to focus not on how to force the Russians into dialogue, but rather on what to do when the Russians refuse to negotiate.

"After all, we have a clear example: the Russians advanced into the border areas of Dnipropetrovsk region—which they used as a negotiating leverage—and our troops successfully pushed them back out of those border areas. Yet somehow this hasn't increased Russia's willingness to engage in meaningful negotiations. So we'd better prepare ourselves to focus not on trying to compel the Russians to talk with us, but rather on how to position ourselves for scenarios where the Russians fundamentally refuse to negotiate. As the saying goes, 'You can achieve more with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone.' After all, throughout Ukraine's existence as an independent state—now 34 years, God willing—for as long as I can remember being a citizen of this independent nation, we've constantly faced the imperative to develop our military. We've lived this way for 30 years, and we'll continue for another 30 years if necessary—and we'll be fine," he added.