THE HAGUE, August 20. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky is wary of making concessions in talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict for fear of reprisals from radical nationalists, Kees van der Pijl, a Dutch historian and political scientist and a former University of Sussex professor, told TASS.

He believes that any potential concessions would come with great risks for Zelensky. "Russia is winning the conflict militarily. However, Zelensky cannot give it any concessions in talks <...> because of the actions of his own nationalist militants," the expert noted.

In his view, neo-Nazi groups have significantly increased their influence on Kiev’s policies since 2014, when the forces that encourage militants came to power in the country.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Donald Trump of the United States held a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on August 15. The meeting lasted about three hours, including a one-on-one in the US leader’s limo on the way to the summit’s venue and a closed-door event that also involved two delegation members on each side: Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov represented Russia, while Secretary of State and Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff represented the US. Addressing the media after the talks, Putin said that the Ukraine conflict had topped the summit’s agenda.

On August 18, Trump held a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders in Washington. He also called Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov, the two leaders spoke in favor of the continuation of direct talks between Moscow and Kiev and discussed the possibility of increasing the level of delegations.