27 May 2023, Saturday, 18:07 441

Moscow Once Again Urges West To Incline Ukraine To Negotiations - ISW

Editor: Daria Zubkova

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The Kremlin is renewing its information campaign with the aim of pressuring the West to force Ukraine to make concessions and conduct negotiations on favorable terms for Russia, according to analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The ISW report noted that the Kremlin said on May 26 that Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, expressed "the Russian side's openness to dialogue on a political-diplomatic track that is still blocked by Kyiv and its Western sponsors."

"Putin's statement does not indicate that the Russian Federation is interested in negotiations with Ukraine. The Kremlin has not created any serious grounds for negotiations and has not abandoned its maximalist goals - to force the Ukrainian government to surrender. The Kremlin is probably trying to strengthen its false statements about readiness to negotiations with Ukraine against the backdrop of the May 26 arrival in Moscow of China's special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, to discuss a peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine through negotiations," ISW believes.

The WSJ reported on May 26 that Li had previously called on European officials to promote a ceasefire in Ukraine by recognizing Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. The publication writes that the diplomat who spoke with Li explained that freezing the conflict does not meet international interests, and therefore Europe will not stop its support for Ukraine. The WSJ also reported that another diplomat said that China's main interests are that the Russian Federation does not lose the war and does not use nuclear weapons.

"Such engagement likely indicates that China may be trying to push the West to influence Ukraine to get it to agree to a cease-fire. The Kremlin is likely to reinforce its ulterior interests in negotiations ahead of a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive to prevent further Western aid to Ukraine," analysts of the Institute for the Study of War emphasize.

At the same time, the ISW reminded that they had previously reported on Russia's information operations regarding the peace talks, which are aimed at curbing Western support for Ukraine.