{"id":3167,"date":"2024-10-16T16:28:58","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T16:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bnchmrk.me\/?p=3167"},"modified":"2024-10-17T00:57:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T00:57:54","slug":"secrets-and-lies-this-is-how-the-west-doomed-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bnchmrk.me\/index.php\/2024\/10\/16\/secrets-and-lies-this-is-how-the-west-doomed-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Secrets and Lies: This is how the West doomed Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"
The desire of the US and UK to conduct a proxy war destroyed the Istanbul+ process<\/strong><\/p>\n In February 2022, Russia started its military operation against Ukraine to impose a settlement after a group of NATO countries had undermined the Minsk II peace agreement for\u00a0seven years. On the first day after the start of hostilities, Vladimir Zelensky confirmed<\/a> that Moscow had contacted him to discuss negotiations based on restoring Ukrainian neutrality. On the third day, Russia and Ukraine agreed<\/a> to start peace negotiations based on a Russian military withdrawal in return for this. Zelensky responded favorably to this condition, and he even called<\/a> for a \u201ccollective security agreement\u201d<\/em> to include Russia to mitigate the security competition that had sparked the war.<\/p>\n The talks\u00a0that followed are referred to as the Istanbul negotiations, in which Russia and Ukraine were close to an agreement before the US and UK sabotaged it, according to numerous claims by people close to the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Washington, there were great incentives to use the large proxy army it had built in Ukraine to weaken Russia as a strategic rival, rather than accepting a neutral Kiev. On the first day after the start of the military operation, when Zelensky responded favorably to starting negotiations without preconditions, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price rejected<\/a>\u00a0this stance \u2013 saying\u00a0Russia would first have to withdraw all its forces.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we see Moscow suggesting that diplomacy take place at the barrel of a gun or as Moscow\u2019s rockets, mortars, artillery target the Ukrainian people. This is not real diplomacy\u2026 If President Putin is serious about diplomacy, he knows what he can do. He should immediately stop the bombing campaign against civilians, order the withdrawal of his forces from Ukraine, and indicate very clearly, unambiguously to the world, that Moscow is prepared to de-escalate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n This was a demand for capitulation as the Russian military presence in Ukraine was Moscow\u2019s bargaining chip to achieve the objective of restoring Kiev\u2019s neutrality. Less than a month later,\u00a0Price was asked if Washington would support peace talks, to which he replied<\/a> negatively as the conflict was part of a larger struggle:<\/p>\n \n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nWashington rejects negotiations without preconditions<\/h2>\n