The general feeling amongst Ukrainian’s and officials is that Vladimir Putin will not attend peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday.
Speaking to sources in Kyiv, they have told LondonLovesBusiness that they are expecting Putin hit Ukraine with massive attacks on Thursday to “exert his power” to force Kyiv into submission, they also do not believe Putin will meet with the Ukrainian leader later this week.
A trusted former minister to Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Putin “is stalling for time” and he is clinging on to war as “his power relies on the war.”
President Zelensky has offered to meet face to face with Putin, but only in Istanbul to negotiate a ceasefire, but the Kremlin will not agree to one before Thursday’s meeting.
President Zelensky said that he “will be waiting for Putin in Turkey personally.”
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The head of the President’s Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said on Tuesday that Russia has “not yet demonstrated political will regarding a ceasefire.”
Yermak said, “Russia has not yet demonstrated political will regarding the ceasefire and end of the war. Therefore, it would be a big mistake to say that we should accommodate Russia and allow it to participate in football championships.”
The Kremlin have been dragging their feet and are deliberately wanting the war to continue despite Ukrainian military officials saying that so far 96, 8130 Russian’s have either been killed or injured since the war started on 24 February 2022.
Anton Gerashchenko, former deputy minister at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs said, “Why is Putin stalling for time, lying, and clinging to the war? His power relies on war.
“The end [of the war in Ukraine] means the emergence of opposition (and possibly an armed one), huge economic problems that cannot be blamed on the war, and redistribution of assets and property.
“Putin’s power model cannot exist outside of war because, with peace, he loses control over the country.”
Gerashchenko added, “A part of Russian society, fuelled by propaganda, interprets peace talks as betrayal, and the end of the war will naturally lead to the emergence of an armed and ideologically-motivated opposition inside the country.
“Putin is very much afraid of his own army. Keeping it in line is only possible at the front in an infinitely protracted war, so we see the Kremlin delaying a real peaceful solution to the war by any means necessary.
“The ceasefire will not play to the advantage of the Kremlin elites and Putin himself.”
