In Qatar, they said, the parties were to hold indirect talks on an agreement to end attacks on energy infrastructure by both countries.
It is noted that Ukraine and Russia intended to send delegations to Doha for the relevant negotiations this month. It is said that a possible agreement would have amounted to a partial truce and given respite to both parties.
One diplomat familiar with the situation said that Qatar had been discussing a moratorium on energy strikes with Kiev and Moscow for the past two months. According to him, the two countries had already agreed to hold the summit in Doha and only minor details remained to be agreed.
But indirect talks, in which Qatari representatives mediated and met separately with Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were disrupted by Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia’s western Kursk region last week, the officials said. There have been no previous reports of a possible agreement or a planned summit,” WP writes.
Russian officials postponed a meeting with Qatari officials after Ukraine invaded western Russia, according to a diplomat. Moscow’s delegation called it an “escalation,” the diplomat said, adding that Kiev had failed to warn Doha of its cross-border attack.
Russia “did not cancel the talks, they said: give us time,” the diplomat added. According to him, although Ukraine still wanted to send its delegation to Doha, Qatar refused because it did not consider a unilateral meeting useful.
In response to a question from The Washington Post, the Office of the President of Ukraine stated that the Doha Summit was postponed “due to the situation in the Middle East”, but on August 22. it will be held by video conference, after which Kyiv will consult with partners on the implementation of the discussed items. The Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment. The White House also declined to comment.
Some of the negotiators had hoped to reach a more comprehensive agreement to end the war, officials said.
“The willingness to engage in talks shows some progress on both sides, at least in terms of a limited ceasefire… Ukrainian and Russian officials have not met for face-to-face talks since the first months of the war, when delegations from both sides met for secret talks in Istanbul.” Those negotiations ultimately collapsed. The two countries later agreed on a grain deal in which Russia temporarily lifted its naval blockade and allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea. A few months later, this agreement also collapsed when Russia withdrew from the agreement. Other attempts to create humanitarian corridors have largely failed,” the publication said.
A diplomat briefed on the talks said that Kiev and Moscow had made it clear before the Doha summit that they were ready to endorse the deal, but senior officials in Kiev had mixed expectations for the talks’ success. Some put the probability at 20 percent, while others expected even worse prospects even if the Kursk offensive had not taken place.
“While Kiev’s land grab may have improved its future negotiating position, the likelihood of imminent peace talks appears to have diminished. This week, V. Putin publicly promised not to soften his negotiating position regarding the attack on Russian territory,” the article reads.
“Union” inf.
2024-08-17 15:14:39