ANKARA, November 10. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s readiness for negotiations with Russia is indicative of a split in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to Baris Doster, a columnist for Turkey’s opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper.
"Finally, something that was expected happened. As key US media outlets have been reporting for several days already, US pressure on Ukraine in order to make it return to negotiations with Russia produced results. Ukraine’s President Zelensky said that he was open to talks with Russia and that he was setting forth several conditions for it. Not only does this statement give an idea of Ukraine’s situation on the frontline but it also points to a schism within the North Atlantic Alliance," the journalist wrote.
According to him, "the US does not have such influence on its allies as before and is not effective in containing its adversaries and rivals." "The war between Ukraine and Russia has yet again demonstrated this. Germany intends to improve relations with Russia and China, despite US’ objections. From North Korea to Iran, from Syria to Cuba, many countries resist the US. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is expanding. The Belt and Road Initiative is developing. Tense relations between the US and Saudi Arabia over oil production and the negative reaction they triggered are well-known. Let’s not forget that the Netherlands lifted sanctions against Russia," the columnist added.
He also notes that "the US does not have the power to impose order on the world and introduce new rules." "The [US national security] doctrine was too subjective, too selfish, too condescending," Doster explained.
Kiev’s softening stance
Earlier, Politico reported that the US administration urged Zelensky to remove the provision on the impossibility of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin from his list of preconditions to begin dialogue. The newspaper noted that on Monday, Zelensky listed five conditions to launch talks with Moscow which did not include the impossibility of negotiations with Putin. According to Politico, this new stance "was directly due to soft nudging by the Biden administration." The newspaper says that this change came after lengthy talks between Kiev and Washington, including during a visit to Ukraine by Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser. Politico says that US officials did not ask Zelensky to alter his position directly but did convey that Kiev needs to show the world its willingness to end the conflict peacefully. That said, Washington does not think that the negotiations should begin immediately.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian leadership remained ready to continue talks on Ukraine. He noted that Russia was ready to hear out its Western colleagues if they put forward a proposal to organize a dialogue on reducing tensions taking into account Moscow’s interests.
