The Kremlin silently tried to persuade the outside world to persuade Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian leadership to return to the negotiating table, writes the independent Russian online newspaper. Jellyfish.
According to sources in the newspaper, the Russian leadership’s proposals were directed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other unnamed Western leaders. Turkey has previously offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia.
Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of negotiations since the February 24 Russian invasion, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in recent weeks that it is now out of the question of resuming peace talks.
Ukrainian president said he will not hold any talks with Putin after the Kremlin claims it has annexed four regions of Ukraine.
Everything is going wrong for Putin
Retreat to Cherson
According to three sources close to the Kremlin, Russia has developed a new “tactical option” which consists of agreeing a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine.
The Russian leadership believes that negotiations can take place between Russian and Ukrainian delegates, without the presidents themselves having to participate, writes the newspaper.
Furthermore, sources say Russia will likely be willing to withdraw its forces from the Russian-occupied parts of Kherson.
– It is very difficult to keep Kherson right now and a withdrawal from the region can be made as a benevolent gesture towards Ukraine, the source says.
Compared to Hitler and Stalin
In recent weeks, Ukraine has made progress in both the Kherson region and Luhansk and Donetsk, and last week the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had recaptured several areas of Kherson.
Kherson is one of four partially Russian-occupied counties that Putin wants to incorporate into Russia. The region is located in southern Ukraine and is an important buffer zone for Russia between the annexed peninsula of Crimea and the rest of Ukraine.
New offensive
However, Putin has no plans to end the war, according to the newspaper. Attempts to reach a ceasefire are said to be a diversion to buy time.
The Russian hope is that a new full-scale offensive can be launched in February or March next year, with trained soldiers and stockpiled weapons.
In front of the newspaper, Mykhailo Podoljak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskij, rejects the Russian desire for a ceasefire.
– Do they really think we would agree, especially with regard to the counter-offensive? A pause for brutally crushed Russian forces so they can train some quickly mobilized soldiers and send more condemned men to the battlefield? Why would we want it?
In early October, the Ukrainian Security Council signed a new decree stating that Ukrainian citizens are no longer allowed to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The decree was in response to Russia’s annexation of occupied parts of Ukraine, which violates international law and is not recognized by the world community.
– Psychological game
Heavy fighting in Kherson
On Thursday, the British intelligence service wrote in its daily report that Russian forces are likely trying to form a new front line west of the town of Mylove in Kherson.
– The heavy fighting continues along this stretch, especially in the west, where the Ukrainian advance has meant that the Russian flank is no longer protected by the river, intelligence writes.
They believe that Russia was forced to go back 20 kilometers due to Ukrainian progress. Most of the Russian troops on this front line are airborne forces, according to British intelligence.
In the report, the intelligence agency also writes that Russian occupation authorities were likely told to prepare for the evacuation of civilians from Kherson.
– They probably expect the fighting to extend to the city of Kherson, the report concludes.
