MPs, experts disagree on prospects for Zelenskyy's meeting with Putin
Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy (Servant of the People faction) Danylo Hetmantsev believes that following the meeting of Ukrainian and U.S. Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump with European leaders in Washington, it became clear that progress in peaceful settlement is indeed possible and is supported by all of Ukraine's allies.
"I'm afraid to cast a spell, but it seems that we are getting closer to peace... We expect that thanks to President Trump's leadership, we will be able to reach agreements on a trilateral meeting. And at it, joint decisions will be worked out on an honest peace agreement, guarantees of security and development for Ukraine. Our irreversible path to a united Europe will be confirmed," Hetmantsev said on Facebook.
He expressed hope that "in a week or two we will understand that the war is ending, and those who seek war will lose."
MP of the European Solidarity faction Mykola Kniazhytsky notes that there were only two issues on the agenda of the meeting – security guarantees and the exchange of territories, with the latter actually not being discussed. "Zelenskyy proposed to postpone it to a personal meeting with Putin. Apparently, Trump was satisfied with this. The probability of a personal meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is extremely low... Therefore, the proposal to postpone the discussion of the issue of territories to a trilateral meeting actually means the hope of not discussing it at all," he said.
In contrast, the issue of security guarantees, according to the MP, is the most difficult, since Russia will seek to retain the ability to resume the war at any time, "and Ukraine wants guarantees that there will never be a war again."
MP of the Batkivschyna faction Valentyn Nalyvaichenko noted after the meeting in Washington that the whole world is ready to continue supporting Ukraine. "The main thing for us is to hold our position, to hold on to our native land. No concessions to the aggressor. Exactly the opposite. The aggressor must stop the war, cease fire and start real peace negotiations," he said on Facebook.
Representative of the Dragon Capital investment company Serhiy Fursa believes that the first and main question after the meeting is whether a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy will really take place in the near future. "If the Russians again send Medinsky and the senior Kremlin janitor, the answer will be unequivocal – delaying time. If negotiations really take place, the scales will begin to tilt towards real negotiations. And even in that case, it cannot be ruled out that we will see delaying time. But the probability of real negotiations will be greater," he said.
At the same time, he believes that strengthening sanctions against Russia would help the process, but expressed his belief that Trump will not impose them. "And the war continues. And negotiations or their imitation continue. And now the hot potato has flown to Putin. His move is next," Fursa said.
Senior partner of the Avellum law firm, former head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Kostiantyn Likarchuk also noted that during the summit in Washington, "the ball was again thrown into Moscow's court."
Vice-rector for external relations and public service of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) Dmytro Sherenhovsky notes that the key intrigue of the coming weeks is not only whether the meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy will actually take place and whether it will be productive, "but also whether the West will manage to turn symbolic diplomacy into enforceable guarantees (commitments with control mechanisms)." "If we again find ourselves in the field of big but vague declarations, it will only strengthen Putin's option to simply stall for time," he said on Facebook.
Executive Director of the Institute for Transformation of North Eurasia Volodymyr Horbach believes that Washington managed to avoid "some kind of catastrophe," and Ukraine and its European partners prepared for the meeting very well. He believes that Trump is still aiming for a quick end to the war according to "Putin's plan," but this meeting, although it did not change his goal, helped to dissuade him from taking quick action. "Trump managed to dissuade him from making a quick deal with the Russians. "It turned out to soften his desire to do it here and now a little," Horbach said in a conversation with DW.
Military blogger Kyrylo Sazonov called the main political result of the meeting in Washington the preparation for the meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. "It is clear that the Kremlin will drag out time, 'increase representation' gradually, and the direct negotiations themselves may last a long time. During this time, the bunker rat expects that the front will collapse and we will quickly retreat. And therefore we will agree to any conditions. We will hold the front, strike and wait for the collapse of the Russian economy. This is a competition – which will happen faster," he said.
Sazonov believes that the Ukrainian side has squeezed the maximum out of the situation, and "the Russian economy will not last long, I would say – six months."