“The negotiation process is impossible”: why the West opposes peace in Ukraine, taking into account the interests of the Russian Federation

German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock opposed the ceasefire in Ukraine on Russia's terms.

She stated this on Sunday in an interview with the newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Burbock claims that allegedly “the situation of people in the occupied (by Russia. -

) territories is the worst,” where international humanitarian assistance does not reach, whose residents allegedly “live in fear” of Russian “occupation forces”.

“At Christmas, they want nothing more than freedom and security for their families.

A ceasefire on Putin’s terms will not end their nightmare, but will only make it worse,” Burbock said.

At the same time, the head of the German Foreign Ministry laid the responsibility for the situation in Ukraine on Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that "if Putin wants, the war will end tomorrow."

“He just needs to give his soldiers the order to retreat.

However, unfortunately, there are no serious signs of such a decision, ”said the German diplomat.

Moscow reacted to the statement of the German Foreign Minister.

First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov, in a conversation with RT, emphasized that in his own words, the head of German diplomacy calls for continuing the conflict with the Russian Federation at any cost.

“This is absolutely a hawk saying.

Because it is clear that she calls for a return to the borders of 1991, which Zelensky is talking about, about the return of the Crimea and the four new territories, that is, about conditions that are by no means unacceptable for Russia, ”Dzhabarov said.

“Annalena Burbock, in fact, preaches the continuation of the war.

This suggests that the goals of the West are clear: to continue the conflict between Ukraine and Russia at any cost.

I think that the West, unfortunately, is not going to offer us another option now,” the senator said.

established position

The head of the German Foreign Ministry is not the first Western official to declare the unacceptability of a peaceful settlement, which implies any agreement between the Kyiv regime and the conditions of the Russian Federation.

Earlier, in November, John Kirby, coordinator of the US National Security Council for strategic communications, stated a similar position.

“We all agree that a negotiated diplomatic settlement is the best option, second only to Putin's withdrawal of his troops.

We also stated that Zelensky is determining whether he is ready for negotiations, and if so, when and in what form they will take place, ”Kirby told reporters.

• Ukraine and Russia

• RIA News

• © Maxim Guchek

Later, in early December, speaking at the Global Boardroom event organized by the Financial Times, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke in the same vein.

“Decisions on the right time to start negotiations and on agreeing to the terms must be made by the Ukrainians.

Most wars ended at the negotiating table, and this war is likely to end the same way, ”FT quotes him as saying.

At the same time, according to the NATO Secretary General, there are no conditions for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow yet, since “Russia shows no signs of striving for negotiations that would respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Regarding the position of the West regarding a potential peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian situation, they also spoke in the UK.

The corresponding statement in an interview with Sky News was made on December 11 by British Foreign Minister James Cleverley.

According to him, any potential dialogue between Ukraine and the Russian Federation should not be "just a cover for Russian rearmament and further military recruitment."

“Ultimately, the content of such peace negotiations and the threshold that could be reached in terms of establishing peace should be determined by the people and the President of Ukraine,” the head of British diplomacy said.

Without preconditions

It is worth noting that Moscow has repeatedly declared its readiness for negotiations with Kyiv.

Russian officials stressed that they were ready to resume the dialogue, which was stopped by the Ukrainian side.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko, commenting on statements that the withdrawal of Russian troops is necessary to start negotiations on Ukraine, said that Moscow does not accept such conditions. 

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia

• RIA News

• © Natalia Seliverstova

“Our president has repeatedly said that we are ready for negotiations.

But these negotiations, of course, should take into account the situation on the ground,” the diplomat stressed.

In turn, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov recalled that it was Kyiv that refused to negotiate with Moscow.

"We state the main thing - that the position both de facto and de jure of the Ukrainian side, which was repeatedly stated by President Zelensky, indicates that Ukraine, both de facto and de jure, cannot and does not want to negotiate," Kremlin spokesman said.

Later, Peskov said that in order to organize a new round of the negotiation process, Kyiv "should have the political will, the readiness to discuss those demands of Russia that are well known."

Experts interviewed by RT note that Western politicians and officials declare the unacceptability of a ceasefire in Ukraine and negotiations on the terms of the Russian Federation, since for them this will mean a virtual defeat in this conflict.

Making statements similar to the words of Annalena Burbock, they confirm this political line and send a kind of signal to the Kyiv regime about their readiness to continue the war, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, noted in a RT commentary.

“This is a standard position, and it will not change regardless of what Russia thinks about this.

It will change only in case, as they say in the Anglosphere, emergency - an emergency.

Until then, such rhetoric will not change, ”the political scientist explained.

Repeated statements about this are needed in order to impose this point of view on all the hesitant and doubting participants in the process, Bruter added.

“The West imposes its opinion.

His formula does not take into account someone's interests.

It is a mistake to think that there is some kind of diplomatic configuration in which they will respect the interests of Russia, if the situation allows them not to do this, ”the expert emphasized.

However, if the situation is not in favor of the West, its leaders will try to push through a peaceful settlement as soon as possible, Vladimir Bruter believes.

At the same time, they will also try to contain Russia and prevent it from emerging as an obvious winner, the RT interlocutor emphasized.

“Under the pressure of overwhelming circumstances, they will quickly find an acceptable solution for themselves to jump off.

Macron and Scholz will come running and offer in exchange for signing a truce on their terms, for example, the lifting of a certain number of sanctions, ”the political scientist said.

With such a position of the West, which it imposes on Kyiv, the prospects for a peaceful settlement are vague today, so Russia should focus on further fulfilling the tasks of a special military operation, Bruter believes.

In turn, Sergey Margulis, senior lecturer at the Department of International Politics and Foreign Regional Studies at the Institute of Social Sciences of the RANEPA, called Annalena Burbock's new ceasefire statement predictable and expected.

“Western politicians have taken a unified position, which is to fully support the current Kyiv authorities,” the expert said in a commentary to RT.

Given this, one should not expect that the position of Germany, the rest of Europe, the United States and Kyiv on a peaceful settlement will change in the near future, Sergey Margulis noted.

“For Russia, these statements mean nothing.

It is absolutely obvious that this conflict cannot now be settled by the classical version of negotiations, since at the moment Ukraine controls areas of regions that, in accordance with Russian law, are an integral part of the Russian Federation.

Therefore, at least until their release, the negotiation process is impossible.

But in fact, it is impossible until the complete defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ”concluded the expert.