Diplomatic talks have done almost nothing so far in terms of working towards reaching a peace agreement or an end to the war in Ukraine. Vladimir Medinsky is Russian president Vladimir Putin’s aide in these diplomatic talks, and his stance does not put peace between the two countries at the forefront of his priorities. After four sets of diplomatic discussions between high-level government officials of both Ukraine and Russia, no agreements have been reached.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has persisted ever since Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but tensions bubbled to surface recently when Ukraine said they wanted to form part of the NATO alliance. This would impede Vladimir Putin from fulfilling a theorized goal of his to restore some of the Soviet Union’s former glory and international standing by taking back a previously Soviet region that had not yet joined NATO. When German chancellor Olaf Scholz stated on February 16th that “Ukraine’s NATO membership [was] not on the agenda,” Putin took this particular moment in time to strike before Ukraine could have potentially formed stronger connections with NATO countries. It may still be up in the air whether or not Ukraine may acquire stronger defense through future alliances, so waging war against them was a way for Russia to prevent this and nip that concern in the bud. More than two million people have fled due to war, according to the United Nations, and numerous civilians have been killed or wounded.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he proposed plans to create humanitarian corridors out of Mariupol and a 24-hour ceasefire, which would have been essential for working towards peace. However, during discussions between him and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, no agreements were reached. “We will define Ukraine’s destiny by ourselves,” Lavrov said at a press conference after the meeting. Lavrov dismissed reports of Russian forces targeting civilians as propaganda and justified an attack on a Ukrainian hospital because, he said, it was overtaken by Ukrainian extremists.
Vladimir Putin’s aide, Medinsky is also making chances for collaboration between the two countries, seem impossible. On Monday morning, Medinsky blamed Ukraine for the breakdown of the corridors and claimed without evidence that Ukrainian “nationalists” using Ukrainians as human shields were at fault for civilian deaths over the weekend. It was found that these deaths were in fact widely attributed to a Russian military strike. Medinsky, has been an aide to Putin on history and humanities policy since 2020, and is generally known to not be someone who advocates for peaceful solutions, and tends to stir up conflict. Choosing Medinsky to lead this delegation was a clear signal that Putin is likely not serious about reaching a negotiated peace.
While there is little hope for real progress during upcoming diplomatic talks, they will continue to be held in Turkey. Russia’s main demand has been a guarantee from Ukraine that they will never join NATO and maintain a sense of neutrality towards that particular alliance. Ukraine has expressed that they are open to this “neutrality” agreement, but they want to make sure that they not only have security guarantees from Russia but also from some NATO countries and the U.S. so that they aren’t only at the mercy of Russia, should they follow through with this agreement.
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