"We are in the initial phase of the negotiation process, at the very beginning. This is just the start. The start turned out to be somewhat problematic and controversial. You could say that the first try didn’t turn out as expected and desired, primarily by the Americans. They were hoping for a quick and effective start, an agreement on the first phase of the ceasefire, after which negotiations on the next stages were supposed to begin immediately, with the goal of reaching a final agreement on a complete ceasefire by April 20. That was the American plan. However, as it turned out, the russians had different plans", - Ukrainian political analyst and director of the Penta Center for Political Studies, Volodymyr Fesenko, told OstroV.
According to him, the russians wanted to pressure the Americans into forcing Ukraine to comply with their demands and impose their own logic on the peace process.
"Judging by reports and leaks, the russians wanted the Americans to pressure Ukraine into accepting a peace process framework in which, for a full ceasefire agreement, we would have to withdraw from all territories occupied by russia. For us, this is unacceptable. I believe this was a test by the russians to see how willing the Americans were to pressure Ukraine and cater to russian demands. They set the bar too high, and I think that was a mistake", - Volodymyr Fesenko emphasized.
At the same time, according to the political analyst, this does not mean the negotiations are over.
"I believe the negotiations will resume. As long as putin has the desire and need to continue playing a big negotiation game with Trump, he will not abandon the talks. He will say, ‘yes, but..’ This game will continue, but at the same time, he will need to showcase some agreements", - he noted.
As previously reported, the negotiations in Saudi Arabia should be seen as a test: russia wants to use the U.S. to pressure Ukraine into complying with its demands.