Istanbul 2.0 Forecast: Ukraine Will Disappoint Everyone, and Peace Talks Are Destined to Fail
May 15, 2025
17:18
Zelenskyy arrives in Ankara.
The theme of today, this month, and this year — the Istanbul 2.0 peace talks — is already destined to fail. Why are they still being held? Lyubov Stepushova, a commentator for Pravda, analyzes this issue.
This so-called direct negotiation between Russia and Ukraine is planned to take place at Dolmabahce Palace by the Bosphorus Strait, the presidential residence of Turkey, just as it was in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend, and U.S. President Donald Trump commented on this: "If I don't go, why should he?"
This means that Zelenskyy — does not deserve to be on the same level as them. This leads to a second conclusion: the core of these peace talks is not Ukraine but something much larger, and some people want globalists to understand and accept this. The essence of these talks is to build a new world order to ensure lasting peace in Europe, and Ukraine's fate has already been decided — it will be split and divided into different spheres of influence. All parties are currently determining the size of these spheres of influence and the safeguards to ensure the implementation of the agreement.
It is worth noting that Putin has been in good spirits all week — when meeting with journalists, he joked, calling Europeans "idiots"; during conversations with the Malaysian president, he told a joke about the "third throne." On the evening of May 14th, Wednesday, the president presided over the preparatory meeting for the Kyiv peace talks. In addition to members of the negotiation team, military personnel also participated in the meeting: Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Commander of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov, Director of the Federal Security Bureau Alexander Borodai, and commanders of various forces in the special military operation zone. This indicates that the military has received instructions to do their part well.
The Russian delegation to Istanbul has received instructions aimed at achieving long-term peace in Ukraine. The negotiation team is led by Vladimir Medinsky, the chief negotiator of the first "Istanbul peace talks." At that time, Russia was prepared to discuss returning most of the liberated territories to Kyiv in exchange for Ukraine legally renouncing Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, agreeing to maintain neutrality, abolishing anti-Russian laws, and discussing the parameters of the Ukrainian armed forces. Medinsky will restart negotiations from this starting point and combine it with current realities, namely that the resolution of territorial issues must consider the front-line situation and the Russian constitution.
Trump's reaction doesn't matter to Putin, nor is it a constraining factor. New sanctions are expected, and countermeasures have already been formulated. From the experience of tariff confrontations with related countries, it can be seen that the United States will not implement sanctions that harm itself. Trump's strategy is like bluffing in every poker game. Europe is also bluffing, but it no longer has any leverage to exert pressure. Secondary sanctions on Russian oil-consuming countries — are also bluffing, as oil prices will soar to astronomical levels because Russia is the supplier of 30% of the global oil market.
Prediction: These talks either won't happen or will just be a formality to allow Americans to negotiate openly with Russia, forcing Ukraine to accept peace. Ukraine's surrender is inevitable, and then Russia will have to negotiate with NATO, and the negotiation level will be completely different.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7504895176515617318/
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