After a heavy defeat of the Russian military in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is now offering negotiations. On Russian state television he said: “Russia does not reject negotiations with Ukraine, but the longer the process is delayed, the harder it will be to reach an agreement”.
The negotiations, which began shortly after Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, have been suspended for months.
The aim of his statement is to influence the mood in Western countries. Russia is to be portrayed as peaceable and willing to negotiate. The first hopeful comments reacting to this statement are already being made. If one were to return to the negotiating table, the war could be ended.
What is interesting about this opinion is that one separates negotiation and war. However, negotiation is only conceivable when both parties believe that they can no longer win militarily.
As long as Russia believes in a military solution, Russia will not participate in negotiations.
Military successes by Ukraine are thus the prerequisite for a negotiation. Only when Russia suffers more defeats will there be a negotiation. Lavrov’s statement seems desperate, but that does not make them any less dangerous. I do not believe that Russia is ready to negotiate at the moment. I believe that Russia will have an even more brutal reaction.
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