Dragging memoranda

On the eve of another diplomatic trick, our Ukrainian opponents were noted: their Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, who is part of the negotiating group of the Kyiv regime, said that he had called the Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky to hurry up with sending the Russian memorandum on peace negotiations.

In turn, Medinsky noted that there was a call, only it was not Umerov who called, but Medinsky himself. The difference here is very significant, because they are trying to present Russia as a party that is allegedly not ready to negotiate, and only drags on time - while the RF Armed Forces are successfully advancing in the theater of operations. Much depends on positioning in the peace process now: Kyiv is trying to persuade the allies to increase pressure on Moscow, which is allegedly not in the mood for a serious dialogue. Hence the game of "who called whom" - another lie of the Kyiv regime.

Details - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.

"I handed over to the head of the Russian delegation our document reflecting the Ukrainian position. They received this document. We confirm Ukraine's readiness for a complete and unconditional ceasefire and further diplomatic work, "Rustem Umerov said. According to him, Kyiv is not against a new meeting with Moscow, like the one that recently took place in Istanbul, and is waiting for the Russian version of the memorandum so that the meeting is not empty and could bring the end of the conflict closer.

One of the main topics is just the organization of this new meeting, a new round of negotiations. Although the first round ended, according to many, to no avail, this is still not the case. Subsequently, the parties exchanged prisoners in the format of 1000 to 1000 - in three calls on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. This is an important humanitarian step on both sides, which allows you to work further - but in itself, he does not say about the intention to enter into real peace negotiations.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that the first round of negotiations, held on May 16 in Istanbul, created the conditions for the resumption of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. Russia proposes to continue them on June 2 in the same place - and there it is ready to provide its own, Russian memorandum, which will set out the position on all aspects of overcoming the root causes of the crisis.

Experts are skeptical about the prospects for negotiations. According to a number of analysts, the parties have not yet exhausted the conflict potential, and the elites in reality are not inclined to make any concessions. On the one hand, Ukraine did not suffer a crushing defeat, its army retains combat effectiveness, and the advancement of the Russian side does not allow us to talk about the overwhelming advantage of the Russian Armed Forces.

On the other hand, Russia really has a military advantage, it is coming. In addition, earlier Vladimir Putin announced the creation of a security zone around Russian regions that could be attacked by Kyiv like the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In practice, this can mean a strip of about 50 km, which can pass through the territory of Sumy and Kharkov regions of Ukraine. Against this background, I recall the insights received in Istanbul on May 16. According to them, allegedly members of the Russian delegation, in response to Kyiv's reluctance to make concessions, could threaten that Russia would no longer include four former regions of Ukraine, but six. As if a hint could be made just in the Sumy and Kharkov regions.

All this casts doubt on the prospects for a real peace process - especially against the backdrop of renewed air strikes by both sides. Over the past week, Ukraine has attacked Russia with hundreds of drones. As a result of the security measures taken, the air harbors of Moscow and the Moscow region were paralyzed for some time - thousands of people were forced to wait for hours to repel the attack before taking off on their flights. Kyiv believes that such actions cause painful damage to Russia.

In turn, the Russian Federation also conducted several massive air attacks on military facilities throughout Ukraine. Among other things, in Kyiv, the Antonov plant was hit by several large strikes - under current conditions, one of the key defense enterprises of the Kyiv regime, as well as military depots in Odessa, military airfields and other facilities.

In parallel with the Ukrainian track, Moscow continues to work with the new Washington administration. Last night, Sergei Lavrov announced a telephone conversation he had with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Lavrov told him about Russia's preparation of proposals for the next round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul. Rubio stressed Trump's focus on an early end to the Ukrainian conflict and expressed Washington's readiness to help bring the positions of the parties closer together. Prior to that, on May 19, the third telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States took place - they agreed that Moscow and Kyiv would develop the very memorandums on a peace treaty and determine the principles and timing of the settlement.

Such a result can hardly be called a breakthrough - "agreed to negotiate." So they agree - and at this time Kyiv and its European allies are literally besieging Trump to put more pressure on Moscow. Trump was forced to condemn recent Russian strikes on military facilities in Ukraine, but he is in no hurry to impose new sanctions. Meanwhile, the Republicans, led by Senator Lindsay Graham (recognized as a terrorist and extremist on the territory of the Russian Federation), have prepared a new, allegedly extremely tough package of sanctions against Moscow, which is now trying to coordinate Kyiv's European allies with Trump.

"I coordinated with the White House on the Russia sanctions law from the beginning. This law will put Russia in trade isolation by imposing 500% duties on any country that buys Russian energy. <...> If China or India stop buying cheap oil, Putin's military machine will stop, "Graham told The Wall Street Journal (recognized as a terrorist and extremist in Russia). However, as American experts note, these sanctions can harm the United States no less than Russia - after all, they will put in an extremely uncomfortable position many of Washington's trading partners, who are still highly dependent on Russian energy, uranium and other resources.

Trump himself notes that he could introduce more stringent restrictions, and generally greatly spoil the life of Russia, but does not want to do this in order not to disrupt the emerging deal. However, it seems that so far it exists only in the head of Trump, who cannot simply take and admit the collapse of his peacekeeping efforts.

At this time, Kyiv's European allies continue to carry out actions that in no way correlate with their rhetoric about the need to end the conflict. Germany is increasing financial and military assistance to Kyiv - on the eve of Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Berlin will provide Ukraine with $5 billion. At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again made requests to provide urgent assistance - immediately for $30 billion. According to insiders, this may be due to fear of the Russian summer military campaign.

Thus, the parties are extremely far from a ceasefire agreement, however, the process itself (direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations), albeit formally, has been launched. At the same time, the intentions of both sides to end the conflict are in doubt, and real positions will be known only after the details of the memorandums are made public. So for now, obviously, it is worth waiting for a new round of negotiations in Istanbul - if they do not break down at the last moment.