Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin offered Ukraine another chance at peace negotiations Thursday, suggesting that China, India, and Brazil could be trusted to act as mediators for any such talks.
Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok, Putin said, however, that preliminary agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine in the Istanbul peace talks — held in the first months of the war but never implemented — should be the basis of future negotiations.
Russia reached a preliminary peace deal with Ukraine in 2022. Everything was in writing. But the UK's Boris Johnson persuaded Ukraine to ditch the talks in favor of defeating Russia on the battlefield. Ukraine chose its fate and that's where we are today.
Early peace talks with Russia fell apart because it insisted on veto power over parts of the agreement. Since then, Zelenskyy has made several attempts at talks with Putin that were ignored. After that, Zelenskyy concluded that Putin was not sincere about negotiations.