Russia seems to have just admitted that peace will not happen in Ukraine

If you want peace talks to result in a “swift victory and the complete desctruction” of your opponent, it says a lot.

What is happening?

Kremlin officials have now publicly acknowledged that Russia is seeking the “complete destruction” of Ukraine.

According to the Institue for the Study of War (ISW), this indicates that Russia is not participating in peace negotiations in good faith.

Who said what?

In a post on Telegram, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson, Dmitry Medvedev, said on June 3rd, the day after the lastest talks in Istanbul, Turkey:

“The Istanbul talks are not for striking a compromise peace on someone else’s delusional terms but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of the neo-Nazi regime.”

The Istanbul memorandum

At the peacetalks in Istanbul Monday, the Russian delegation, once again, outlined a number of harsh terms if a ceasefire or peace is to be put in place.

The terms include Ukrainian withdrawal and recognition of five Russian-occupied regions as Russian.

Open to Trump-talks

Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said yesterday, that Vladimir Putin is “insterested” in a future trilateral meeting between Putin, Volodomy Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump, but that all technical details needs to be worked out first.

Russian media: Don’t expect any significant results

In the Russian state-controlled media, the Russian public is cautioned not to expect any significant results from the ongoing negotiaions.

According to ISW, Russian officials continue to falsely project interest in good faith peace negotitiations, though.

Will continue as long as Putin wants

ISW continues to assess that Russia remains committed to pursuing demands that amount to nothing short of Ukraine’s full capitulation.

ISW further suggest that Russia will continue to prusue these objectives, as long as Putin believes Russia can claim a military victory in Ukraine.