Negotiations with current Russian regime impossible, Ukrainian diplomat says
Negotiations with Russia’s current leadership are unlikely to produce any meaningful results.
The statement was made in an interview with Ukrinform by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Volodymyr Yelchenko, Head of International Policy Research at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation.
“I do not believe in the realism of any negotiations with the current Russian regime. Reaching an agreement with Russia’s current leadership is absolutely impossible. To be honest, I don’t even believe in negotiations with the next Russian regime,” Yelchenko said, citing his experience as Ukraine’s Ambassador to Russia from 2010 to 2015.
According to the diplomat, Russia’s political elite consists largely of the same circle of people who have remained close to President Vladimir Putin for years and have been shaped by the propaganda they themselves promote.
“Almost all ministers, prime ministers, and deputy prime ministers belong to the same circle of people, more or less close to Putin. They have all been indoctrinated by Russian propaganda, which they themselves produce,” he said.
Yelchenko added that he sees no one within the Russian establishment who appears capable of fundamentally changing their views.
The diplomat also expressed skepticism that Russia will undergo rapid political upheaval capable of bringing genuinely new leaders to power.
At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine cannot afford to wait for Putin to leave office or for the regime in Moscow to transform.
“We are already capable of producing our own advanced weapons. Of course, this is not without the support of our Western partners… Some Ukrainian weapons are also being manufactured abroad by our own producers. This is a trend that should continue,” Yelchenko said.
Yelchenko previously served as Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States and Russia, twice headed Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and served as Ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna.
As previously reported, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck four fuel infrastructure facilities in Russia’s Stavropol Krai over the past day and also hit three Russian shadow fleet tankers in the Black Sea.