Kiev should agree to the preconditions for peace talks laid out by Russian President Vladimir Putin, otherwise its position both in the combat zone and at the negotiating table will only get much worse, Persio Gloria de Paula, an expert at the Naval War College in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, told Sputnik.
“One should bear in mind that Ukraine is suffering both hardware and personnel losses. For the first, it relies on its patrons in the West, while to replenish the second it will need to push through increasingly stringent mobilization and lower the conscription age,” he remarked. At the same time, the Russian proposal poses a challenge to Kiev and its sponsors on the eve of the so-called peace summit in Switzerland.
“This calls into question the goals and effectiveness of a summit which is not attended by all the sides involved,” Persio Gloria de Paula said.
Putin’s Offer is ‘Golden Opportunity’
The conditions laid out by President Putin to resolve the Ukraine conflict are “a golden opportunity both for Kiev and the European countries to begin negotiations,” Iranian political scientist Emad Abshenas told Sputnik.
“Of course, as expected, Russia insists on its key demands,” he noted, including a neutral, non-nuclear status for Ukraine, “as well as guarantees of independence, rights, freedoms and interests of the Russian-speaking population of the country.”
He singled out Putin’s remarks that these fundamental parameters along with Ukraine’s demilitarization and de-Nazification were broadly agreed on during the Istanbul negotiations in 2022. However, on Western countries’ orders, Kiev ultimately rejected these conditions, the expert said.
West Pursuing ‘Selfish Goals’ in Ukraine
It is to be expected that the West will do everything possible to prevent Ukraine from accepting Russia’s peace initiatives, said Unver Sel, chairman of the Federation of Crimean Tatar Culture Societies of Turkiye.
Once again, settlement of the conflict will be delayed. When asked if the West will claim responsibility for what is currently happening in Ukraine, the pundit said:
“It is naive to hope that the West will suddenly acknowledge its responsibility. This did not happen in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria... The West will continue to behave like a spoiled child who does not understand the consequences of his actions, and acts solely based on his own selfish goals."
‘Throwing Europe a Lifeline’
With his peace proposals on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is “throwing Europe a lifeline,” Lebanese international relations analyst Mohammad Saifuddin told Sputnik.
The Russian president’s initiative for an immediate cessation of hostilities is “quite feasible and important for all parties, especially for Europeans who are tired of supporting Ukraine,” he noted, adding that it “may find a response in Ukrainian society before it is supported by their politicians.”
“European countries find themselves in a situation when it is increasingly difficult for them to help Kiev, and this initiative can become a lifeline for them if they still want to get out of their current predicament,” Saifuddin said.
Putin's speech, which followed Western states’ attempts to steal illegally frozen Russian assets and use them to support Ukraine, also sought to underscore their “blind dependence on US decisions,” the analyst said.
To date, the only way to resolve the conflict in Ukraine is through the implementation of Russia’s new peace proposal, Iranian political scientist and international relations expert Ruhollah Moddaber said.
Dismissal of the previous proposals and disregard for the Minsk accords and the four rounds of negotiations that could have helped stabilize the situation in Ukraine fueled a continuation of the crisis due to the actions of the West, the Iranian political scientist explained.
"Russia has put forward clear-cut proposals. It has an advantage over Ukraine from a military, security, logistics and information standpoint. As Putin noted, if the West fails to consider this sole means of resolving the conflict, then it will be responsible for the continued bloodshed,” Moddaber stressed.