Opinion from Yerevan: Russia-Ukraine war moves to its final stage

Russia-Ukraine war reaches final stage

“The situation in Ukraine is heading towards its final resolution”, says Armenian political analyst Stepan Danielyan, based on President Zelensky’s recent statements in an interview with ABC News. In particular, the leader of Ukraine said that he was ready for dialogue and compromise with Russia, although he added that he did not intend to capitulate. Volodymyr Zelensky also said that he had “cooled” on the issue of accession into NATO, which is not ready to accept Ukraine and is afraid of a confrontation with Russia.

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Zelensky: “To discuss and find a compromise”

In an interview with an American TV channel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again called on Putin to negotiate:

“I am ready for dialogue, but we are not ready for surrender. Because it’s not about me, it’s about the people who elected me”.

The Ukrainian president said his country does not want to “beg for something on his knees” from Western partners:

“As for NATO, I lost interest in this issue after we realized that NATO is not ready to accept Ukraine. The Alliance is afraid of controversial things and confrontation with the Russian Federation”.

Zelensky also spoke about security guarantees, he said that “we can discuss and find a compromise on the temporarily occupied territories and unrecognized republics, which are not recognized by anyone except Russia, and find a compromise on how these territories will live on”.

Expert commentary

Political scientist Stepan Danielyan wrote on his Facebook page:

“The process is coming to an end. Zelensky is preparing the ground for a denouement. Some of his words are addressed to the Ukrainians, some to the West, while he speaks to Russia through envoys.

He tells Ukrainians that this whole story began because of [Ukraine’s] intention to become a member of the European Union, and the constitution says that the goal is NATO membership. By signing an application for joining the EU, he shows the Ukrainians that they are not expected there, and in terms of NATO, everyone sees that there is no one to protect them. Both of these goals were short-sighted, and the hardships endured were meaningless.

He directly accuses the West of being deceived and used. Later, he will present the bill to the West for compensation as an injured party.
As for the Donbass and Crimea, he said he was ready to come to an agreement [with Russia] around some intermediate wording. It is not difficult to find this thought “between the lines” of today’s statement.

Meanwhile, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan believes that even if Russia wins the war with Ukraine tactically, it has already been defeated strategically, because in the long term it will be impossible to break the national resistance. The expert explains what Russia wanted to achieve by starting this war:

“The conflict is not with Ukraine, the conflict is with the West. Russia’s goals are not to capture Gulyaipole, Zaporozhye or Melitopol. It is about restructuring the entire structure, the entire architecture of European security, so that Russia is treated in a way that it was not going to be treated. I’m not talking about reality, I’m talking about what Russia is trying to do, what the plan is.

The plan does not concern Ukraine itself. It involves Ukraine, of course, but it acts as a battlefield – a place where this conflict is taking place, where the war is taking place, and the people who live there are suffering. But this is a conflict between Russia and the collective West. Russia’s goal is, roughly speaking, to be reckoned with, to be paid attention to”.