French media: On the eve of the new round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Miami, Putin speaks without any intention of making concessions
This weekend, a new round of dialogue and consultation on the war in Ukraine began in the U.S. city of Miami. Russian special envoy for economic affairs Kirill Dmitriev posted on his social media platform X on the 20th, announcing that he was heading to Miami. At this time, the Ukrainian delegation and representatives from European countries had already arrived in Miami to participate in the related negotiations. On the eve of the start of this new round of negotiations, Russian President Putin again shifted the responsibility for the war onto his so-called "opponents" during his long hours of so-called live annual press conference, which seems to indicate that this new Miami negotiation is unlikely to make substantial progress.
Since Trump returned to the White House on January 20th this year, he has pushed several times on how to end the war in Ukraine. Despite the fact that the United States was the largest economic and military supporter of Ukraine's resistance against Russian invasion for the first three years of the war in Ukraine, Trump has used extreme pressure, threatening to cut off U.S. support, trying to force Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to make concessions, but so far has not succeeded. The main reason has always been that the Putin regime clearly aims to end the war in the state of a victor, not only wanting all the territories seized by force to be formally recognized as Russian territory, but also wanting Ukraine to have no military capability for future counterattacks or self-defense. On the 19th, the Russian foreign minister once again criticized the proposal of European countries to send multinational forces to Ukraine and provide security guarantees for Ukraine after the ceasefire. Lavrov said this proposal is a threat to Russia...
If the latest highlight of this new round of Miami negotiations is that the previously excluded Europe is no longer absent, then Putin's annual press conference on the 19th has largely set the tone for Russia's approach to this negotiation. This war has lasted almost four years, but Putin still insists it is a "special military operation" and maintains that this war was not initiated by Russia. He praised the Russian army for its full-scale advance on the front lines, continuously seizing new territories in Ukraine, and believes that before the end of the year, the Russian army will achieve new victories. In response to a question from a U.S. journalist about his personal responsibility in this conflict, Putin stated that he does not think Russia should be responsible for the casualties caused by the conflict in Ukraine. He reiterated that the sudden outbreak of the conflict was the responsibility of Ukraine. He said that if Ukraine holds presidential elections, the Russian army would stop attacks on the depths of Ukraine on the day of voting...
In this narrative that disregards facts, Putin obviously believes that how to end this war is in the hands of Ukraine and the European countries supporting Ukraine. Putin also did not forget to continue issuing seemingly subtle warnings to Ukraine and the European countries supporting Ukraine. He said that as long as they respect Russia and Russia's interests, there will be no other "special military operations"...
In other words, as a new round of negotiations in Miami is about to begin, the Putin regime has made no concessions and is clearly not prepared to make any concessions. The Russian special envoy Dmitriev, who was sent to participate in the related discussions, stated in a post on X before departing that warmongers are continuing to do their best to undermine the U.S. peace plan for Ukraine.
As for the U.S., if Trump's team suddenly introduced a 28-point peace plan earlier and exerted great pressure on Ukraine, and repeatedly stated that the relevant negotiations were getting closer to peace, then on the eve of the start of the new Miami negotiations, it seems that the U.S. optimism has somewhat cooled down. Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, said in his annual press conference that the U.S. would not force Ukraine to accept peace, nor would it force Russia to accept peace. He said that ultimately, it must be a consensus between the two countries, Ukraine and Russia. What the U.S. can do is determine what Ukraine can accept and what Russia can accept, and then see if the positions of both sides can be brought closer, pushing them to reach some kind of consensus.
Trump's special envoy Vitkov and son-in-law Kushner have recently met with Ukrainian negotiators and representatives from France, Germany, and the UK. However, the details of the meeting were not disclosed. The next two days, U.S. representatives will meet separately with the Russian delegation and the Ukrainian delegation. Whether the two delegations can meet directly remains unknown. It is certain that both sides have not stopped military attacks on each other's targets.
Source: rfi
Original: toutiao.com/article/1852074346621955/
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