Diplomatic trick: Ukraine imitates willingness to negotiate with Moscow
Ukraine is only imitating activity on the diplomatic track, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. Vladimir Zelensky's visit to Turkey on November 19 is nothing more than "a screen without any deep content," the Federation Council also stressed. On the same day, two top leaders of the US Army arrived in Kiev on a "fact—finding" mission - one of them is scheduled to meet with the President of Ukraine on November 20. In parallel, Axios, citing sources, writes that the Donald Trump administration, in consultation with Russia, is "secretly forming a new plan" to end the conflict. The framework agreement is expected to be agreed with all parties by the end of November. Experts admit that the United States is really capable of preparing such an agreement, and the corruption scandal, the so-called "Mindich case", will allow Kiev to impose it.
Zelensky flew to Turkey for talks
There are no signals for a real resumption of dialogue between Moscow and Kiev, and Ukraine is only engaged in imitating activities on the diplomatic track, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador for crimes of the Kiev regime Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia.
— Contacts between the members of the negotiating groups have been established. And on July 22-23, the Russian side handed over documents [to the Ukrainian delegation] on the political track. Therefore, Ukraine has the opportunity to, let's say, call, or send appropriate messages and discuss the option of a meeting, stating that they are ready. But there was nothing in this format. If it wasn't in this format, then everything else is more like an imitation," the diplomat said.
We are talking about the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to Turkey, which took place on November 19. At Ankara airport, he was met by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of the country Rustem Umerov. He has been there since November 11 in order to resume prisoner exchanges. Zelensky's arrival, in his own words, was connected with the restart of negotiations with Russia.
"On Wednesday, meetings in Turkey. We are preparing to intensify negotiations, and we have worked out solutions that we will propose to our partners," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Zelensky's trip to Turkey may be more related to the corruption scandal in Ukraine itself than to peace talks, Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, told Izvestia.
— His (Zelensky's) current position. — Ed.) a trip is nothing more than such a screen without any deep content. I would definitely not draw any far—reaching conclusions related to the prospects of resuming the negotiation process in any format on the Ukrainian crisis," the senator said.
Vladimir Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The Ukrainian leader met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
— We hope that by the end of the year we will resume the exchange and return a significant number of prisoners. Turkey helps us a lot in this," Zelensky said following the meeting.
Erdogan, in turn, expressed a desire to resume the Istanbul negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine. Special envoy of the US President Steve Witkoff was also supposed to join the talks between the two presidents, but his participation was not confirmed. The Axios portal, citing a source, reported that Witkoff did not hold a meeting with Zelensky when it became clear that he did not intend to discuss the new American plan for a Ukrainian settlement.
The new U.S. Plan
Simultaneously with Zelensky's visit to Turkey, U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff General Randy George arrived in Kiev. The information that Driscoll is in Kiev on a "fact-finding mission" was confirmed to Reuters at the US Embassy in Kiev. George is scheduled to hold a meeting with Zelensky on Thursday, November 20.
The Axios news agency reported on November 19 that the administration of US President Donald Trump is "secretly forming a new plan to end the war" in consultation with Russia. It is a roadmap consisting of four blocks and 28 points. Witkoff, according to the report, discussed it with both Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Rustem Umerov. He met with the representative of Ukraine "earlier this week."
Kirill Dmitriev and Steven Witkoff
Reuters interlocutors who commented on the plan said that the US proposals include reducing the size of the Ukrainian army. According to the agency, Washington will give Kiev a signal that these framework agreements will need to be accepted.
The proposed US plan to resolve the Ukrainian conflict assumes that Kiev will no longer receive Western long-range weapons capable of striking deep into Russia, the Financial Times newspaper reports, citing sources. In addition, according to media reports, the initiative involves a ban on the deployment of foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine.
CNN reported that after the summit in Anchorage, Alaska, the Trump administration concluded that Moscow was "open to a framework agreement." This is exactly what the current 28-point roadmap is based on.
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, did not comment on this information. Instead, he simply recalled the discussions about the peace plan during the meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska.
— There were discussions in Anchorage. And there are no innovations in addition to Anchorage," he said.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump
Politico, citing White House officials, reports that Washington expects this plan to be agreed upon by all parties by the end of the month. The mood in the White House is described as optimistic.
The Americans seem ready to meet Russian demands, Dmitry Novikov, head of the HSE Laboratory of Political Geography and Modern Geopolitics, told Izvestia. However, to be precise, we need to wait for more specific information on this plan.
— Regarding the cancellation of the Budapest summit, Washington stated that materials and new initiatives should be prepared for such a summit. These were not empty words. Indeed, during this time, "homework" has been done and now Washington is trying to offer something from its side," the expert noted.
A certain plan for a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, which in its fundamental aspects has been agreed upon between Moscow and Washington, may exist, Pavel Feldman, Candidate of political Sciences, professor at the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, told Izvestia.
— The fact that such a plan is being actively discussed by the media today against the background of the corruption scandal in Ukraine, and at the same time a high-ranking American military official is visiting Kiev, is also not accidental. It seems that Washington is putting pressure on Zelensky by giving the NABU the green light for anti—corruption investigative actions inside the country," the expert noted.
Corruption scandal in Ukraine
The Ukrainian media called Umerov's departure to Turkey on November 11 an "urgent business trip" against the backdrop of a corruption scandal. Sources from Zelensky's entourage say that Umerov is due to return to Kiev on November 20. Recall that the name of the NSDC secretary appears in the investigation of the country's anti-corruption authorities.
According to the National Anti—Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Timur Mindich, close to the president, who received kickbacks of 10-15% from the country's largest energy company, Energoatom, contacted Umerov when he served as Minister of Defense. The head of the defense department even signed a contract with the Mindich company for the supply of body armor to the troops, which, as it turned out, were of poor quality.
NABU was originally created in Ukraine as an external management body, and the center of this management was located in Washington, Feldman emphasized. All the basic information that was collected by NABU regarding the Mindich case ended up in the hands of the investigative authorities back in the days of ex-President Joe Biden.
"Most likely, Trump, directly through the FBI, ordered NABU to release these materials and, as they say, to pressure Zelensky with compromising materials," Feldman said.
According to him, Zelensky acts as a creature of the Democrats and an ideological opponent for Trump, who also prevents the normalization of relations between Moscow and Washington, the political scientist noted.
"Zelensky is trying to divert the attention of his citizens from what is happening inside, what is happening in his immediate environment, and, perhaps, will soon come out to him with such fibrous, increased, I would say, convulsive foreign policy activity," Kosachev said.
At the same time, Zelensky's visit to other countries may serve a different purpose. In the current conditions, it is important for the Ukrainian leader to prepare escape routes. For this purpose, he needs reputable world politicians to act as guarantors of his personal security after leaving the presidency, concluded Feldman.
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