Ukraine relies on negotiations, not ultimatums: President's Office on Zelenskyy's visit to the US
Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine employs a negotiation-based style in conducting political discussions with its partners, avoiding any ultimatum-based approach, says Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the Office of the President, in a comment to RBC-Ukraine’s YouTube channel.
“I’m not quite ready to comment on the narrative that ‘Ukraine will get nothing,’ or that ‘there will be no results.’ Why? Because of 2.5 years, 950 days of war, including with the help of partners' resources and weapons. And once again, I’ll just call things by their names: the total collapse of Russia’s military reputation, and personally Putin’s as well, says a lot,” he said, commenting on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the US.
Podolyak considers it unlikely that at this stage, partners would stop and acknowledge the victory of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He also says that Ukraine’s defense coalition, Ramstein, is stronger than the Iran-North Korea-Russia alliance.
“I just cannot imagine the structure of global relations afterward. You understand how Russia will behave if it is not punished for its blatant destruction of international law. This would signal the end of the golden age of democracy. Failing to realize this would be strange to me. So, of course, the US and all other partners will pragmatically assess the consequences of today's political missteps. This doesn’t mean they’ll make 100% correct decisions,” he explained.
The official added that important political decisions for Ukraine could have been made six months or even a year ago, which would have significantly reduced the scale of the war, decreased the number of casualties, and accelerated the war’s conclusion.
“In terms of an ultimatum-based approach to the global political process – no. Ukraine is using a negotiation-based style of political discussion. Why? Because Ukraine’s position is based on the same logic. It outlines what can be gained if resources are provided or, conversely, what can be lost if these resources are frozen. Choose your scenario then. Ukraine has chosen its scenario. We fully understand what Russia will do next. We understand Russia very well,” Podolyak said.
In his opinion, there has been no war of this scale, like in Ukraine, since World War II. There have been political conflicts and wars. Ukraine does not use ultimatums in negotiations with its partners; it logically explains its demands.
“These are tough negotiations, tough explanations, and it’s a psychoanalytical effort with people who are used to not making decisions. Unfortunately. I’m not referring to anyone specifically, but rather to the political elite as a whole. Why? Because for 30-40 years, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it seemed that there were only small, localized conflicts that could be handled by special forces. There was no need to make the corresponding political decisions. This led to a sort of collective, softened politics, we can call it that,” he added.
Zelenskyy’s visit to US
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the US this week for a working visit. He addressed the UN Security Council and is expected to speak at the UN General Assembly session on September 25.
Zelenskyy also plans to meet with US President Joe Biden to present his plan for Ukraine’s victory. He will also show his plan to presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. However, Trump’s team stated that they did not plan a meeting with Zelenskyy.
