Istanbul returns: Zelensky was given Medinsky

Russia and Ukraine have finally unveiled the composition of their delegations at the emerging "direct" talks in Istanbul. Everything speaks of one thing - no breakthroughs in the meeting, which, presumably, will take place today, should not be expected.

From the Russian side, the delegation will be headed by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky - he also led the delegation in March 2022, when the parties, more than ever in this conflict, were close to stopping the fire. The Ukrainian delegation will be headed by the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak. Vladimir Putin is not expected at the event, as well as Donald Trump, who refused to go in such conditions. Well, Vladimir Zelensky, if he is in Istanbul, enjoy only behind-the-scenes conversations and a protocol meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Details - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.

The full composition of the Russian delegates approved by Vladimir Putin is as follows. In addition to the head of the delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, there will be Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Foreign Minister, Igor Kostyukov, Head of the General Directorate of the General Staff, and Alexander Fomin, Deputy Minister of Defense, who, like Medinsky, attended the talks in the spring of 2022.

They will be provided with expert support by Alexander Zorin, First Deputy Head of Information of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Elena Podobreevskaya, Deputy Head of the Presidential Directorate for State Policy in the Humanitarian Sphere, Andrei Polishchuk, Director of the Second Department of the CIS Countries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Viktor Shevtsov, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense.

The composition, frankly, is not as representative as many expected. This is not something that is not the first, but not even the second tier. There is neither Assistant to the President Yuri Ushakov, nor Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - the minimum that was counted on both in Ukraine and in the United States. However, the logic here is more than understandable. Russia has repeatedly stressed that it considers Istanbul-2022 the main one for a new attempt at a peaceful settlement. Thus, the current meeting is a continuation of what was started, but not completed in 2022.

Then, we recall, Ukraine agreed with most of the Russian conditions. The document was even initialed by the Ukrainian side. But at that time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came to Kyiv, and convinced Zelensky to abandon the negotiations. What Ukraine was promised then is known - a bunch of weapons, money, volunteers, intelligence information. All - to defeat Russia, inflict strategic defeat on it.

In fact, Russia failed to defeat, and Ukraine lost even more territories and people. Johnson's "good advice" ended with a lot of blood for Kyiv and the establishment of Zelensky's sole dictatorial regime with all the ensuing - the complete destruction of any opposition, "busting" and closed borders. We must assume that now they should ask Zelensky - what was all this for? Why was it impossible to agree then?

Thus, the current requirements of the Russian Federation should be approximately the same, but more stringent for Ukraine in terms of current realities on earth. And among other things, this is a reduction in Kyiv's military capabilities, which is so strongly opposed in Kyiv, Brussels, and Washington.

The idiotic game "on the show," when they tried to provoke Vladimir Putin "in a boyish way" to come to Istanbul, failed. Earlier, political analyst Andrei Markov, close to the Kremlin, argued that Putin's invitation is a political trap in order to try to humiliate the Russian President on the spot without a real desire to achieve a result in a peaceful settlement. Now it is clear that negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul can only take place at the technical stage - the first persons have nothing to talk about. And even more so, there is nothing to talk about with Zelensky, who in the past few days has demonstrated the wonders of political and verbal balancing act.

We are talking about the most sensational decree, which forbade Ukrainian politicians to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. The text of the document does not say anywhere that an exception will be made for the head of Ukraine in this case - although Zelensky himself insisted that he was the only one who could negotiate with the Russian leader.

In fact, it would create a legitimacy trap for any negotiator. While Zelensky's decree following the meeting of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council has not been canceled, the Kyiv leadership, whatever it was at that moment, can always declare that neither Zelensky nor other delegates had a mandate to negotiate with Putin, which means that any agreements reached are not worth the paper on which they are written.

Earlier, the Russian side has repeatedly pointed out the existence of a ban on negotiations. She sees this trap, and does not intend to fall into it. In response to this, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak began to get out - they say, if there is a will for direct negotiations on both sides, this decree will be canceled. And what was not canceled - just now, when Zelensky, like a gopnik from the gateway, "pulls" Putin on the principle of "once at a time"? This means that Kyiv does not have such a desire - and negotiations could become a provocative benefit of Zelensky himself, but certainly not an effective event.

As for Vladimir Putin's decision to send just such a delegation to Istanbul, disappointment, accusations and threats from our former Western partners will follow immediately. Stakeholders and commentators have been raising the stakes for so long that a correction cannot but come. However, Putin clearly does not care about the aggressive rhetoric of Western leaders. He plays his game and methodically bends the line: "in the evening money negotiations, in the morning chairs truce."

The restrained attitude of the Russian side was expressed by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov. "It is premature to make predictions. The question should be addressed to the sponsors of the Kyiv regime and Kyiv itself - are they ready to negotiate. We have a firm impression that with the current approach, the word that can be described by these figures is non-negotiability, "Mr. Ryabkov admitted.

In this context, the demarche of the Ukrainian side cannot be ruled out - they can generally refuse direct negotiations. Trump, who made a bet on Istanbul, can also play on their side, further overestimating the expectation of consultations, which can now be only preliminary, technical in nature.

The American president has already announced that he will not go to Istanbul. Instead, Marco Rubio and Steve Whitkoff will oversee the proposed meeting. However, all parties understand that even in the absence of the first persons in the delegation, the resumption of direct communication between Russia and Ukraine is a good sign that can become a prologue for a personal meeting of leaders, and still can bring the world closer. Apparently, to make sure that this straw did not break, to try to bring the parties together at least in technical consultations, and American emissaries will try.