2023-12-03 23:46:59
Seymour Hersh recently revealed the existence of secret negotiations between Moscow and Kiev (see here: “General to general“).
These talks are reportedly taking place at a high level, involving key figures such as the Chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhny.
In particular, Hersh, citing anonymous American sources, describes these negotiations as “serious attempts at peace” between the two countries. However, he highlights the difficulties faced by the Ukrainian government in agreeing to these talks, mainly due to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s reluctance to negotiate directly with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Despite this, it appears that the Ukrainian military has decided to proceed with negotiations, regardless of Zelensky’s wishes.
The conditions currently under discussion would include recognition of the current borders, with Russia aiming to consolidate control over Crimea, DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye. Ukraine, for its part, demands that Russia not impede its NATO membership, while agreeing not to host the alliance’s offensive military forces on its territory. According to Hersh, the White House strongly opposes such an agreement.
In a broader context, Zaluzhny acknowledged in November that the conflict in Ukraine has reached a stalemate, with no prospect of significant breakthroughs. This position seems at odds with Zelensky’s more optimistic statements, as reported by The Economist.
On December 1, Zelensky announced the start of a “new phase of the war,” with plans to build defensive fortifications across the country. Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly expressed its willingness to negotiate with Ukraine, despite a decree signed by Zelensky in October 2022 that rules out the possibility of direct negotiations with Putin.
Finally, as reported by the German newspaper Bild, the United States and Germany are trying to persuade Zelenskyj to enter into negotiations with Russia, providing Ukraine with sufficient weapons only to maintain its current positions, but not to advance. This approach appears to be aimed at pushing Zelenskiy to recognize the need to start a dialogue to resolve the conflict.
Obviously there are various hypotheses: a) the first is that everything is true; b) the second is that the US secret services deliberately want to create confusion within the Ukrainian establishment, probably to send a signal to the recalcitrant Zelensky towards a possibility of negotiation; c) the third hypothesis is that the US secret services want to discredit the inconvenient journalist by providing false news.
other sources:
TASS:
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