Vicious circle: why it is impossible to bring Russia to the negotiating table

Graphics - Please speak

Why do negotiations to end the war in Ukraine end in nothing over and over again? Many times in Moscow, Kyiv, Brussels and Washington they talked about the desire for peace. Over the past year, Trump's envoys have become almost like family in the Kremlin. And all to no avail. But is it only because the parties cannot get what they want? Our subscriber Sergei Gusev examines this issue through the concept of two ethical systems of Vladimir Lefebvre - and comes to the conclusion that for Putin any concession is not a compromise, but a humiliation. This means that a deal is impossible until the very configuration of power in Russia changes.

Each round of negotiations in a protracted conflict creates the same cycle: a surge of audience expectations - “this time they will agree,” then disappointment - “they didn’t agree again,” then a return to the previous track, and everything is back to normal.

Numerous “experts” and “analysts”, who have proliferated in abundance, tell us that the reasons for the latest failure are the insufficient qualifications of intermediaries or “lack of political will.” But the repeatability is too persistent to be attributed to such explanations. Why has this been happening time after time for almost four years?

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