[ISW: Russian propaganda within the country paves the way for the Kremlin to exit peace talks and refuse to sign a ceasefire agreement.]
According to an analysis report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on May 22, the Russian government and its controlled media are creating justifications for tearing up peace negotiations with Ukraine and refusing to sign a truce agreement.
The report states that Russian authorities continue to publicly question the legitimacy of Ukraine's negotiation team and government, which "is likely to support future efforts to delay negotiations and refuse to sign any peace agreements." On May 21, Russia's Foreign Ministry Legal Department Director Musikhin claimed that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had long lost "domestic and international legitimacy," and any agreement he signs in the future "may be problematic." TASS cited so-called "insiders of the Istanbul negotiation" as saying that Ukraine needs to replace members of its negotiation team because the Ukrainian delegation lacked political figures in recent negotiations, and questioned the possibility of "spies serving Western countries" being mixed into the future Ukrainian negotiation team.
The report points out that the Russian government has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine needs to hold elections to ensure the legitimacy of its government, while ignoring the clear prohibition in Ukraine's constitution and laws against holding elections during wartime and canceling the state of war. Musikhin's remarks and Russian media reports are part of the Kremlin's long-term efforts to create excuses for Russia to unilaterally withdraw from peace agreements with Ukraine and support Russia's repeated demands for regime change in Ukraine and the establishment of a pro-Russian government.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832879649996876/
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