Posted on 02/28/2025 7:41:28 AM PST by marcusmaximus
A suggestion by the Trump administration’s top negotiator that an Ukraine peace deal would be based on talks conducted in Istanbul nearly three years ago has buoyed Russian officials and spooked Ukraine and its backers.
To Kyiv, recent remarks by Steve Witkoff appeared to embrace the Kremlin’s key, and incorrect, talking point over the past three years: that Ukraine and Russia were about to strike a peace deal in Istanbul, and that Kyiv walked away from an agreement under pressure from Western politicians, such as then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that any future peace talks be based on a return to the Istanbul parameters, which in Moscow’s interpretation foresee a sharp cut in Ukraine’s military, a ban on foreign weapons and troops, and a Russian veto on Western security assistance in case of renewed conflict. Ukraine refuses to return to that draft, which was never completed or approved by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
-snip-
The Istanbul talks were convened as Russian tanks were on the Kyiv ring road, a culmination of negotiations that began shortly after the Feb. 24, 2022, Russian invasion. They reflected the battlefield situation when Ukraine’s statehood was on the verge of collapse, and Russia was dictating terms for a surrender.
Russian troops, however, were defeated around Kyiv and the rest of northern Ukraine just as negotiators gathered in the Turkish city, and Ukraine has since then reclaimed additional areas of Kharkiv and Kherson regions. No documents were signed in Istanbul, and the two sides were wide apart on key issues.
Zelensky ordered an end to these talks once Ukrainian troops found hundreds of executed civilians in the town of Bucha near Kyiv following the Russian retreat.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Dear Ukraine:
We own you.
Do what we say, or else.
- American Taxpayer.
Funny thing about war....and the old...”To the victor goes the spoils”...nothing’s changed.
“…a sharp cut in Ukraine’s military, a ban on foreign weapons and troops, and a Russian veto on Western security assistance…”
They say it is “false” that Ukraine walked away from this deal? I could see them completely rejecting such a deal, and western powers encouraging them to do so.
Oh no! It’s not the corrupt MIC Globohomo woke world victory plan you have been pushing so hard for three years! Get over it.
If you think that a veto on Western security assistance is walking away from all sorts of thing, then I can see the point.
If the U.S. piggy bank is dry, and no one with a serious army is willing to send troops, once one has ploughed through all of the military surplus, then this point is no longer nearly as attractive.
If we have Poland’s back, and the other adjoining members of NATO are fine with Ukraine as a buffer state-—then welcome to being a buffer state. It isn’t ideal, but not everyone can be an empire, and even empires aren’t empires forever.
If you think that a veto on Western security assistance is walking away from all sorts of thing, then I can see the point.
If the U.S. piggy bank is dry, and no one with a serious army is willing to send troops, once one has ploughed through all of the military surplus, then this point is no longer nearly as attractive.
If we have Poland’s back, and the other adjoining members of NATO are fine with Ukraine as a buffer state-—then welcome to being a buffer state. It isn’t ideal, but not everyone can be an empire, and even empires aren’t empires forever.
Austria cannot be a member of NATO, and they seem to be ok.
Empires are especially not empires forever.
WSJ is complete and total globalist BS.
I don’t believe a word of this crap.are your troll pennies running out yet?
Yes. The world would be a different place if the Monroe Doctrine had been an actual amendment to the Constitution.
McKinley, and by extension Roosevelt (both of them) made some big mistakes. It’s not all on Wilson.
That is absolutely true and was verified by former Israel PM Naftali Bennett.
Marcus, the author said: “Steve Witkoff appeared to embrace the Kremlin’s key, and incorrect, talking point” You seem to know a lot about the situation. Can you tell us why he has deemed the talking point ‘incorrect’? References, please. Not editorial comment, which the WSJ is wanton to do.
Updating Tagline.
Well I think if you tell a country they can’t import weapons, you are basically neutering them. If Ukraine has natural resources to export, or land to transit through, Ukraine would need defenses. So yeah, I can see them rejecting that deal.
Trump maybe came up with a solution though. If we and Europe are partners in exploring and exporting the resources then it is a sort of security guarantee in that our vested interests and our people would be put at risk in a future war.
The WSJ editorialized that comment with the weasel word “seemed”.
Istanbul makes sense to use as a framework for the new negotiations instead of starting from scratch.
Thanks for the clarity.
Allow them to import enough small arms (including stuff that can take out tanks and the odd plane) to provide for a well-regulated militia swiss-style.
I can see not having hostile nuke in Ukraine, Cuba, or Canada.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that any future peace talks be based on a return to the Istanbul parameters, which in Moscow’s interpretation foresee a sharp cut in Ukraine’s military, a ban on foreign weapons and troops, and a Russian veto on Western security assistance in case of renewed conflict. Ukraine refuses to return to that draft, which was never completed or approved by President Volodymyr Zelensky.”
It wasn’t agreed to NOT due to European pressure, but just because it was a lousy deal. It would be a worse deal now, and Trump will not get Ukraine agreement to it.
It’s a framework, but the specifics will be negotiated based on current circumstances instead of 2022 situation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.