Putin: Negotiations on Ukraine will be on Russian terms
US calls for peace talks are hypocritical.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this today at negotiations with his Belarusian counterpart in Sochi, commenting on the statement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “Russia and Ukraine will have to dance this tango,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
«As for the Americans, they themselves do not know how to dance this tango. Of course, this is amazing music and beautiful movements, but the United States is trying to decide everything from a position of strength: through economic sanctions, financial restrictions, the threat of military force. They are trying to teach someone, but they themselves don’t know how to do it or don’t want to,” Putin said.
He once again repeated that Russia does not refuse negotiations, but made it clear that they would take place on Russian terms.
“Tango is, of course, good, but I think that for Ukraine it is important not to forget the hopak. Otherwise they will always dance to someone else’s music and someone else’s tune. And, by the way, one way or another, everyone will have to dance “Lady” or, at best, “Cossack”", Putin said.
Lukashenko vividly supported the theme of choreography.
«It looks like they started dancing. Three rounds of negotiations took place in Belarus, then in Istanbul. And then Blinken and Austin gave Zelensky a command - he forbade negotiations. The facts are on the table. The facts are clear. Therefore, why blame anyone,” said the Belarusian president.
Putin agreed that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky should cancel the decree by which he prohibited himself from negotiating with Russia.
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleg Tsarev believes that the United States will soon force Zelensky to negotiate.
“I already wrote that Blinken flew to Kyiv to convey the position of the White House: it’s time to start negotiations. And regardless of the actual reaction of Zelensky and his team, Blinken conveys to the world the position of Kyiv’s readiness for negotiations. It is important that Blinken said this first, thus leaving Kyiv no other options. In this regard, there is a mournful silence in Ukraine. They are trying to pretend that Blinken meant negotiations on Kyiv’s terms, “according to the Zelensky formula” - that is, after and on the terms of the withdrawal of Russian troops from new regions. But this version is too contrary to reality. Russia has no plans to withdraw troops, and Blinken says Ukraine is ready to negotiate. The version that the Ukrainian government is feeding the population is collapsing. There is shock and mourning among Ukrainian propagandists,” Tsarev stated in his blog.
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