Russia’s top negotiator claims Ukraine war could have concluded in matter of weeks

(MENAFN) The Ukraine conflict might have been resolved within weeks had Kyiv pursued negotiations from the outset rather than taking cues from its Western allies and choosing to fight, according to Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation at the recent Istanbul talks.

Following nearly two hours of direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul on Friday, both sides agreed to a major prisoner exchange involving 1,000 detainees each and to continue talks after submitting detailed ceasefire proposals.

In a post-talk interview with Russia’s Channel 1, Medinsky, a presidential aide and historian, reflected on how the conflict could have ended much earlier. He claimed Ukraine missed a key opportunity for peace during the initial peace talks in Gomel, Belarus in February 2022. Instead of building on those early discussions, Kyiv delayed, and by the time of the Istanbul negotiations later that spring, the terms on offer were already less favorable due to shifts on the battlefield.

Medinsky blamed Western interference—specifically citing former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kyiv in May 2022—for disrupting the peace process. He echoed claims from Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia, who said Johnson had encouraged Ukraine to continue fighting rather than seek peace.

Medinsky argued that Western intervention in other nations' affairs has historically led to dire outcomes for Europe. He cited the 1878 Berlin Congress, where European powers revised the outcome of the Russian-Turkish War, redrawing borders in the Balkans. He claimed this ultimately sowed the seeds for World War I.

On Ukraine’s current demands, Medinsky rejected Kyiv’s insistence on a 30-day ceasefire before any further talks as excessive. He said simultaneous fighting and negotiations are historically common and that only those unfamiliar with history would assume a ceasefire must precede diplomacy. Russia maintains that a ceasefire now would only give Ukraine time to regroup and rearm.

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