Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to go to Istanbul, even if Ukraine is ready for meeting. After all, such a trip would look like a concession, which contradicts the Kremlin's desire to keep control over the initiative.
Political analyst Vladimir Gorbach said this on the air of Espresso.
"Going to a meeting with Zelensky means to lose the initiative for Putin. And the whole logic of the Kremlin's actions is an attempt not only to control the front but also to the negotiation process. It will not go, because it would look like the transfer of powers to Ukraine," Gorbach said.
According to the analyst, Putin will, instead, try to continue to shake Ukraine's inner unity and press on Western partners, using "horror stories" about the imaginative possibilities of the Russian army.
"It can be either a demonstration of fake new weapons, or some other hybrid manipulation. Putin wants to intimidate the event to force Ukraine to accept the conditions of Moscow," Gorbach added.
He stressed that the current confrontation between Ukraine and Russia has long been transformed into a war of ultimatum.
"Each party declares its conditions, but not ready for concessions. The ultimatum for an ultimatum - and so in a circle. It is a bad game, and it can take a long time," the expert said.
Gorbach also doubts Putin's sincerity about ceasefire.
"If he did not even use his own ceasefire ideas for Easter and May 9, he is unlikely to do it now. He can declare a termination, and then just lie that it does not shoot Russia, but Ukraine," the analyst summed up.
