Ukraine should not indulge itself in illusions, expecting concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian liberal journalist Semyon Novoprudsky writes about this in an author’s column on the pages of the Kyiv magazine “Novoye Vremya”.
“[Putin’s] meetings with Zelensky and the Normandy summit against the backdrop of the outgoing Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron clearly trying to get closer to Moscow are nothing more than attempts to use the wrong hands to put pressure on the Ukrainian government. And if Zelensky does not hold elections in Donbass according to Russian rules, we can expect new military attacks by the “ichtamnets”: the Kremlin is not afraid of new sanctions, or rather, it does not really believe in them. Europe, from Moscow’s point of view, is too busy with Brexit and other internal problems, and in the United States, Russia hopes to see Donald Trump, a completely predictable partner, for a second term in 2020,” notes Novoprudsky.
He also does not consider the extension of the Russian-Ukrainian gas contract for five years to be a concession from Moscow, since for now Russia needs the Ukrainian gas transportation system.
“But the guarantor of transit is now not Gazprom, but Naftogaz of Ukraine. Even without the resumption of direct gas supplies to Ukraine, Russia had the opportunity to put pressure on Kyiv for five years and stop supplies to Europe unilaterally at any time, always blaming the Ukrainian authorities for this under a legally formalized agreement,” the author writes.
“Putin will resolve the “Ukrainian issue” much more forcefully than before. It will turn out - with the hands of Zelensky. It won’t work – with the help of “polite little green men”. Ukraine cannot count on any concessions under Putin,” Novoprudsky sums up.