MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. A Ukrainian delegation arriving for talks in Istanbul, with or without Vladimir Zelensky, shows that the Kiev regime has conceded, ex-leader of the banned Opposition Platform — for Life party Viktor Medvedchuk opined.
"Talks to be held in Istanbul on May 15 represent one of the steps with which [Russian President] Vladimir Putin cornered Zelensky, bringing him back to the talks broken off in 2022, when Zelensky, with assistance and orders from the collective West, withdrew from the negotiating process, due to cynical lies," the opposition politician wrote in an opinion piece on Smotrim.ru. "He thus suffered a strategic defeat, and a close outcome is imminent, albeit on different conditions, obviously," he argued.
According to Medvedchuk, Zelensky erred by overestimating his geopolitical role, as he has been a pawn, not a queen as he was told, since the very beginning. The politician called Zelensky a "major geopolitical beggar," who has been waging a war against a stronger power, lacking enough forces and means for that, an absurd scenario that he said has been generously financed by the collective West. "Zelensky played the role of a puppet <…> to provoke a military response from Moscow," he explained.
"Zelensky has already lost, as the arrival of a Ukrainian delegation to Istanbul, with or without him, three years later would indicate international recognition of his defeat, as he missed the chance of negotiating with Moscow in 2022," Medvedchuk continued. "And he cannot but dispatch a delegation, on which [US President Donald] Trump insists, not daring to disobey him," the politician emphasized.
Medvedchuk sees Zelensky demanding a personal meeting with Putin or a 30-day ceasefire in Istanbul in a hope to disrupt the talks. "Naturally, he will receive neither," the politician concluded.