Pavel K. Baev
The Kremlin has used delays and distractions to gain all the time and concessions available to it before seriously engaging in peace talks, or at least a genuine pause, in its war against Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon be compelled to admit that procrastination works fine until it does not. Putin cannot fail to recognize the essential final warning by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about readiness to move on to other priorities if the efforts at making a peace deal remain deadlocked (Forbes.ru, April 18). U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that the United States will abandon efforts to make a peace deal without setting a specific deadline (Kommersant, April 18).
Putin’s surprise announcement of the 32-hour ceasefire over the Easter weekend was clearly an attempt to demonstrate flexibility and openness to compromises in response to the U.S. administration’s readiness to abandon peace talk efforts. Putin’s announcement of the so-called “humanitarian” initiative was abrupt after a week of brutal missile attacks, including a strike by three Iskander-M on Kharkiv last Friday, and a testimony of his cruel hypocrisy (RBC-Ukraine, April 18; Izvestiya, April 19). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that throughout Easter Sunday, Russia violated its own ceasefire promises 2,935 times (X/@ZelenskyyUa, April 20). Many minor clashes inevitably punctured the truce, but the appeal of Zelenskyy to extend it for 30 days was in vain (RBC, April 19). After weeks of posturing and asserting demands for Ukraine’s subjugation, Putin finds his space for political maneuvering restricted by too many declarations of intent for achieving a clear victory (Novaya Gazeta Europe, April 18; Kommersant, April 19). He also struggles to comprehend how exactly the pivotal counterpart, the United States, plans to move on, and in what direction.
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