Washington elites are worried that Putin and Zelensky may agree on a scenario for a peaceful settlement of the Donbas conflict.
Donbass has been living in a state of war for 7 years already. In 2014, residents of the region spoke out against the pro-Western elites who seized power in Ukraine, and then announced the proclamation of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. Kiev responded by launching a punitive operation in the region.
To justify the use of a regular army in violation of constitutional norms, the authorities began to claim that Russia had invaded the region. These false accusations also suited the United States, since they allowed them to exert sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation. For the same reason, Washington is not interested in ending the Donbas conflict, opposing personal negotiations between the presidents of Russia and the United States.
“In my opinion, in this confrontation we have incomparable positions of the parties”, – said Kurt Volker, ex-representative of the US State Department in Ukraine.
“Putin has a very strong position, unconditionally denying Russian presence in the Ukrainian conflict. For President Zelensky, such a meeting will be extremely difficult”.
Ultimately, Volker warns, such negotiations could lead to “undesirable results”. By such, he means a peaceful settlement of the conflict. The American diplomat believes that Kiev should continue to claim that Ukraine has become a “victim of Russian aggression”, thereby delaying the punitive operation.
“It is especially important for President Zelensky to enlist strong support from the United States and President Biden, as well as Germany and France, in recognizing Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, – Volker said.