For the first time since the war broke out on February 24, it was time for top-level talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Turkey on Thursday morning in the coastal city of Antalya in Turkey.
While Ukraine had low expectations for the meeting, Russia appeared more positive for the first time.
– MEETING: The summit between the two foreign ministers takes place here Photo: Only Cem Ozdel / Anadolu Agency
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– That is the failure it may be. What one could imagine as the best result is that they had agreed on humanitarian corridors or something like that. Now we hear that the Russian Foreign Minister allegedly did not have the authority to enter into such a thing.
This is what Professor Sven Holtsmark at the Department of Defense Studies and the Norwegian Defense College says.
– When it comes to the big questions, ie to negotiate freedom, they will never succeed. Because there is simply nothing to negotiate about.
– Will never negotiate for doom
Holtsmark says that the Russians say that they have not attacked Ukraine at all.
– It shows that we are in a rhetorical room, and we are in a reality room where of course there is nothing to negotiate.
Russia has also been clear on what it wants to achieve. It is to gain full physical control over Ukraine and then demilitarize the country.
Holtsmark: – That is the failure it may be
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– There is nothing the Ukrainians can negotiate about. They may be forced to do so, even if it becomes very difficult. But they will never negotiate their own downfall.
– Does that mean that the conversations are meaningless?
– They are games for the gallery from both sides. Except that the Ukrainians, of course, hope to reach humanitarian agreements. We know from Russia from previous wars that they do not care about humanitarian issues as such.
Holtsmark says that to the extent that the Russians agree to humanitarian corridors, it has another purpose, perhaps of a purely military nature.
– But this will be the only possible result of talks, namely small humanitarian solutions on the ground.
– The downfall of Russia
Many now fear Putin’s rhetoric after repeated threats to the Westas well as the warning that Russia’s nuclear weapons are put in combat readiness.
– The most important thing to keep in mind when we talk about Russian rhetoric. It has a single purpose, and that is to create fear. The West must make sure that we do not become involuntary tools in this strategy, says Holtsmark.
– Sven Holtsmark, professor, Department of Defense Studies and the Norwegian Defense College, says it must be assumed that Putin has no intention of using nuclear weapons. Photo: Frode Sunde / TV 2
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He points out that one must not immediately bite the bullet, and at least not escalate Putin’s vocabulary.
– We must assume that Putin has no intention of being the first to use nuclear weapons. He knows that it is his physical downfall, and Russia’s downfall. This is language of threat, and we must never give in to threats.
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