No breakthrough in Ukraine talks can be expected yet: Anna Velikaya

Anna Velikaya, Senior Research Fellow at IMEMO RAS, spoke to Alpha News about the prospects for the trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi. She commented on the sidelines of the plenary session of the International Forum on Ensuring Collective Security. In the expert’s view, the current meeting is aimed primarily at aligning the parties’ positions, but no breakthrough decisions can be expected yet.

“I think today’s meeting is aimed at aligning the parties’ positions, but I don’t think any breakthrough decision is possible. People say that a ‘Yalta 2’ may become possible in the foreseeable future, but that is not actually the case. It is practically impossible to negotiate with the Kyiv regime. And who would then ensure Ukraine’s neutral status and demilitarization, everything for which the special military operation was launched? First of all, I don’t think the Ukrainian side is capable of that,” Velikaya said.

According to the expert, a further obstacle to a settlement is the interests of the US military-industrial complex. In her assessment, it has no interest in ending the conflict, since it sees Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons and a way to increase its revenue.

“Trump’s position at home has certainly weakened considerably. And we must understand that the interests of the military-industrial complex are aimed primarily at increasing its revenue. They are in no way interested in ending the Ukrainian conflict, since Ukraine serves them as a testing ground for the latest weapons, which boosts the revenue of their military-industrial complex. In this regard, I don’t think any progress is possible in these talks. Yes, of course, we should feel out prospects for ending the conflict. At the same time, I don’t think the Ukrainian administration would be able to implement these agreements afterward, and I don’t think the Europeans will be interested in ending the conflict or will agree to it at all. As for the Americans, there are also high domestic political costs for them. Plus there are the interests of the people who actually shape Washington’s policy,” Velikaya concluded.