From Nezavisimaya gazeta, May 21, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:

Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, commented that the latest telephone conversation between the Russian and US presidents did not change anything, and Washington is wrong to believe in Moscow’s ability to negotiate. . . .

Podolyak wrote on his Telegram channel that “the status quo has not changed” following the telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

According to him, “Ukraine continues to offer the only realistic way out of the military conflict, which is through an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.” Europe supports Kiev in this. The US is the only country that is continuing to act as a global mediator and is still counting on Russia’s ability to negotiate and its readiness to exit the military conflict for the sake of business interests. Moreover, Podolyak added in comments about the phone call that Moscow is categorically opposed to a ceasefire and is insisting on the elimination of the underlying causes [of the conflict].

For example, as Vladimir Putin announced at the end of the conversation, Russia is prepared to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum about a future peace treaty that would set forth the principles for a peaceful settlement, as well as “a possible ceasefire for a certain period of time if the appropriate agreements are reached.”

At the end of the direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on May 16, which were initiated by the Russian leader, Podolyak notably also told journalists that Moscow’s representatives had set a number of unrealistic and outrageous conditions. Among other things, they came out against Ukraine’s participation in any military alliances, as well as deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine, Podolyak said, listing the issues that had initially served as grounds for the large-scale military conflict, which has been ongoing since February 2022. And now, as Moscow has repeatedly explained, the root causes must be eliminated – a temporary ceasefire will not ensure a stable peace.

For his part, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky commented on his own conversations with the head of the White House (both before and after the latter’s conversation with the Russian president) at a briefing on Monday. He emphasized that Russia could agree to an unconditional ceasefire as a first step to confirm its willingness to compromise. At the same time, he said that ceding territories (that became new regions of Russia by referendum [see Vol. 74, No. 39, pp. 3‑6]) and acknowledging neutral status for Ukraine are untenable. Such solutions would contravene the Ukrainian Constitution, said Zelensky, whose tenure as president, which officially ended on May 20, 2024, [also] contravenes the country’s Basic Law [see Vol. 76, No. 21, pp. 5‑9].

Among other things, the Ukrainian president fleshed out his approach to negotiations with new recommendations for Washington, suggesting that Moscow should be blamed for Kiev’s rejection of its proposals. In this case, “if the vision of the Russian side is not supported by the Ukrainian side,” Zelensky explained, “the US should consider such a situation as the unwillingness of the Russian side to end the war.” At the same time, he acknowledged that Kiev would also formulate its own ideas on a future settlement in response to the memorandum proposed by Moscow. In this regard, he ordered the creation of an expanded Ukrainian negotiating group for talks with Russia. At the same time, however, the Ukrainian leader effectively challenged Donald Trump’s call for immediate direct talks between the warring parties, possibly at the Vatican. According to Zelensky, Kiev is currently looking at the possibility of a new meeting among teams from Ukraine, Russia, the US, a number of EU countries and Britain, which could take place in Turkey, Switzerland or the Vatican.

Curiously, at the same time, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced on social media the approval of a step-by-step plan to exchange prisoners of war “1,000 for 1,000,” an agreement on which was reached at a meeting on May 16. “Despite the difficulty and sensitivity of the dialogue in Istanbul, the Ukrainian delegation carried out its work,” said Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation at the talks in Turkey, clarifying that the president had received a report on this.

Oleg Nemensky, a leading expert at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, explained to NG that Kiev is making numerous contradictory statements to be cunning. In fact, though, by his determination, Zelensky’s team is interested in disrupting the negotiation process any way it can. “In addition, it is important for Kiev to blame Russia for what is happening. They hope to set Washington and Moscow against each other to draw Donald Trump over to the side of the radically anti-Russian globalist elites. And we can’t say there are no chances of this happening. By taking advantage of the American president’s well-known impulsivity and personal motivations, the Kiev leaders are playing an active game and hoping to ultimately secure his support,” he said.

But isn’t Donald Trump playing his own game in this situation?

Oleg Nemensky believes that Trump is most likely interested in a long-term halt to the current military conflict, since the US has already received all possible bonuses from it. Washington has other plans now and would like to shift to a different region. “It must be said that settlement of the Ukrainian conflict is not a foundational matter for Trump. If he does not achieve progress in the near future, then he will shift responsibility for the regional crisis onto [Washington’s] European partners,” he explained.