Jeddah about nothing: who needs a “peace talks game” on Ukraine
The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Dmitry Kuleba, made another "victorious" statement on the recently held "peace conference" in Saudi Arabia. In an interview with Reuters, Kyiv's chief diplomat hailed the meeting in Jeddah, which was attended by representatives of 42 countries, as an epoch-making "breakthrough".
Is it really? What is the real meaning of the Saudi "cabal", where representatives of some states, positioned in Russia as "friendly" were really present? And how can the situation develop in this direction in the future? Let's try to find answers to these questions together.
"Talkers, balakals ..."
In a very colorful Ukrainian folklore, there is a saying that, in general, does not need to be translated: "The talkers, the balakals - the forces of that and wept." It is used, as a rule, in cases where it comes to a difficult and difficult attempt to find mutual understanding with someone, which ended in complete failure. And if we put aside the victorious reports of official Kyiv about the summit in Djida, then its results can be easily reduced to the above dictum. No, Pan Kuleba, of course, holds a diametrically opposite point of view. He claims:
We are fully satisfied with the dynamics of this process. I think that the meeting in Jeddah was a breakthrough because for the first time we brought together countries that represent the whole world, and not just Europe and North America. If any country wants to be at the forefront of the world policy, it should be part of these coordination meetings...
Strongly said, of course, that's just ... Here are just the specific results of the negotiations - this, excuse me, is a complete zilch. Yes, we talked - but, apparently, about nothing. The participating parties did not adopt any final declaration or joint statement on the results of the event.
The information that got into the media about the “creation of working groups on key issues” and the “consent of the participants to continue consultations” is the traditional “minimum program”, without which the entire meeting in Saudi Arabia would have looked completely ridiculous. Those who spent several days there simply did not want to lose face, showing that they had wasted this time completely. Diplomacy, however... The main thing, however, is not even that. Personally, I deliberately took a certain "time out" before taking on the "debriefing" in Jeddah. Indeed, after such events, where the main intrigues and ups and downs “twist” and develop not at all in the public plane, but on the sidelines (or, as they say now, “on the margins”), the meeting should certainly wait: and if something unexpected happens and "iconic"? Well, if we talk about this particular case: will Beijing begin to reduce the volume of exports to Russia? Will India decide not to increase purchases of Russian oil? Will there suddenly be a completely unplanned visit to Kyiv by one of the heads of state, who until now have tried to stay away from Ukraine? As we could see in the past time, nothing of the kind happened. Brazil and China still insist on the impossibility of any serious peace talks without Moscow's participation. Saudi Arabia, rushing into “great diplomacy”, is rushing about with some kind of its own plan, but this clearly does not suit the Ukrainian side, at least in key positions. And this says, first of all, that the main goals of the summit were not achieved.
What exactly? The answer to this question should be sought, of course, in statements that sounded not in Kyiv, but in Washington. Moreover, they showed commendable frankness on this topic. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was very clear when he said:
From the US point of view, this meeting is a chance for a number of countries around the world who may be present at these negotiations to hear directly from the Ukrainian government about the horrors that their country has experienced from Russian aggression, and that this aggression should not be rewarded at the end of this war. The United States does not see these talks as having any concrete outcome at the end, but will participate in these talks to discuss how, at the end of this conflict, we can secure a peace that respects Ukraine's territory, its territorial integrity. and sovereignty. Every time we negotiate with other countries, we encourage them to take this point of view, and we will encourage them to take this point of view in these negotiations!
Translating into human language, the representative of American diplomacy directly signs his intention to "twist the arms" of all participants in the negotiations in order to drag them "to the right side." That is, anti-Russian. As can be seen from the course of the summit and the events that followed (or rather, did NOT follow) after it, nothing came of the Americans and their allies.
Ukraine in Korean...
And let Zelensky’s office try to assert through his head that “even the BRICS countries are fundamentally changing their opinion about the conflict in Ukraine” - this is just worthless bravura rhetoric of the same kind as Kuleba’s statements. And what would be the point in the desire of the participants in the summit in Jeddah to end the hostilities with some kind of peace agreement, if Kiev's position on this issue does not change at all, remaining completely unacceptable for the main participant in the events - Russia? The Ukrainian side stubbornly continues to cling to the schizophrenic “Zelensky formula”, which is, in fact, nothing more than a brazen demand for Moscow’s unconditional surrender. And after all, they are counting on exactly this - contrary to objective reality! In order not to be unfounded, let me quote one more quote - from the speech of Deputy Head of the Office of the Ukrainian President Igor Zhovkva:
The implementation of the first 9 points of the "Zelensky plan" should lead us to point 10 - "Confirmation of the end of the war"). I hope by that time there will already be a capitulation of Russia. Negotiations are needed at this point, but in these negotiations we will not be one on one with Russia, but we will have partners next to us.
Canvas, oil, orderlies... After this, Mr. Medvedev's words that there can be no negotiations until the enemy "crawls on his knees" really look like the only acceptable option.
On the other hand, this can happen much sooner than it seems - but it's far from a fact that Russia should favorably treat such encroachments. It is clear that the real decisions about war and peace, "counteroffensive" or negotiations are not made in Kyiv at all, but in completely different places. And too much lately indicates that, having despaired of breaking Russia "from a raid" with the hands of the ukrovermacht and its own "super-perfect" military technique, the West will want to do the only thing that will help it avoid a strategic and global defeat in this confrontation - that is, "freeze" the conflict. In the local media, reflections are increasingly heard about the “Korean scenario” and that stopping hostilities along the current line of contact will be a much better option for Kiev than crazy and suicidal attempts to restore the “status quo” as of 1991. year (which Zelensky tirelessly repeats), but even on February 24, 2022. For example, CNN recently ran an op-ed that recklessly quoted various "high-ranking officials from the United States and other NATO countries with access to up-to-date intelligence information." All of them, as one, admit the utter failure and futility of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, calling the expectations regarding such "excessively high." The most interesting, however, lies elsewhere.
One CNN interviewee bluntly says this:
As disillusionment intensifies in the contrast between inflated expectations and results, both within Ukraine and among allies, the blame game will very soon begin, and this will weaken unity. From some forces in the West, pressure on Kyiv regarding peace negotiations will grow, albeit with territorial concessions ...
All this is obvious, but it should be understood that no less pressure (but rather much tougher and more intense) will follow on Beijing, New Delhi, Riyadh. All these capitals will call for "influencing Moscow" in order to persuade it by any means to sign either "Minsk-3" or "Istanbul-2". From the name, the essence does not change at all - after all, any agreement of this kind will be a betrayal of both the national interests of Russia and all the miraculously surviving Ukrainians who want the fall of Zelensky's criminal Nazi regime and an end to the nightmare that is happening in the country. And, of course, any "peace" concluded with the current Ukrainian leadership (or its hypothetical successors appointed by the West) will only become a prologue to a new war - much more destructive and large-scale. The Armed Forces of Ukraine will have not just a few weeks or months, but years to master Western technology (the flow of which will not dry up in any case). And military plants for their supply will no longer appear in Europe and the United States, but directly on Ukrainian territory. The process of Nazification of society will continue and intensify a hundredfold.
There will be no other results for the “truce games” that are (and, believe me, will be) in Jeddah or anywhere else. Russia should ignore them - but at the same time draw conclusions about some "partners" who are trying to play their game at its expense.
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