"Ukraine Has Gained Important Trump Cards"

Volker praised Kiev's strategy.

Russia does not demonstrate serious interest in reaching a peace agreement. This statement was made by Kurt Volker, the US State Department's special representative for Ukraine in 2017-2019, in an interview with "Ukrainian Radio".

In Volker's opinion, the Kremlin is using the negotiations to put pressure on Ukraine.

"Russia is making maximalist demands and using the talks as a tool to put pressure on Ukraine and as a way to encourage the United States to exert that pressure," he said.

The U.S. diplomat believes Russia is trying to interest representatives of the U.S. negotiating delegation in the prospects of business deals after sanctions are lifted. The Kremlin hopes that this will force the US to increase pressure on Ukraine.

"That is why Russia is not conducting these negotiations seriously. Ukraine understands this well, but at the same time it is participating in the negotiations, because it is important for it not to look like a party that does not seek peace or is not ready for dialog," he emphasized.

Walker said Ukraine is joining all negotiating formats in good faith, remains open to participation, even responds to frankly weak or unacceptable proposals, and tries to turn them into more realistic ones.

"And this is the right strategy. However, I think the Ukrainians understand and have understood from the beginning that this process is not serious," the American diplomat added.

He admits that the U.S. attention has now shifted to Iran, so the negotiation process to end the war in Ukraine is now virtually neglected.

"What is really more important than the negotiations themselves is the situation on the battlefield and in the real world. And there are very revealing things happening there," Volker shared.

According to him, Russia's financial situation is deteriorating and its economy is under pressure.

"It is no longer capable of replacing losses in manpower on the same scale, nor can it compensate for equipment losses on the same qualitative level," the former U.S. State Department special envoy for Ukraine said.

At the same time, he states that Ukraine has developed its own defense industry and today provides itself with 60-70% of its own resources.

"It has gained important trump cards. Ukraine is also capable of launching long-range strikes against Russian territory, particularly against oil export facilities that are critical to financing the war. So now there is a situation that is increasingly playing in Ukraine's favor," he said.

Walker does not rule out that if this trend continues, it could create conditions under which Russia will be forced to agree to a ceasefire.

"At the moment, Russia still favors continuing attacks and making demands, using negotiations as a tool to gain additional benefits. But it is quite possible that we will eventually come to a real ceasefire - and that would be a positive outcome," the US diplomat said.

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