Now the guns are talking, but peace will ultimately be decided at the negotiating tables

Ukraine and Russia are sitting at the negotiating table again, online today. In the past, the parties to the war have negotiated on the Belarusian border and in Antalya, Turkey.

The war is in its third week and a solution is still being sought on the fronts.

So far, Russia has imposed strict conditions on, among other things, Ukraine’s non-alignment with NATO and Russia’s acceptance of security policy demands. Ukraine, for its part, is calling for an immediate end to the fighting.

International Crisis Group (ICG) – Russia expert at the research institute Oleg Ignatov says that so far we are at an impasse.

– Both have a military scenario for the time being. Ukraine cannot lose and Russia cannot win. Russia still hopes Ukraine will accept its demands, Oleg Ignatov told AFP.

Expert at the Montaigne Institute of another research institute Michel Duclos said so far it is a matter of “threat diplomacy.”

Researchers interviewed by AFP believe that the longer the war lasts, the more anti-war sentiment will intensify in Russia.

– Then we have to look for several diplomatic options. says Michel Duclos.

He believes the Kremlin may offer a new negotiation format during the spring, modeled on the so-called Astana process. It has tried to bring peace to Syria. Russia, Iran, Turkey and the parties to the Syrian war have taken part in these talks.

The war continues in Syria, but Michel Duclos stresses that the model would be taken from pluralism and involve the parties to the war under a mediator such as Turkey.

– In this model, the peace process could be promoted without the involvement of the West, although Ukraine has also hoped that the West will make a stronger commitment to diplomatic efforts, says Michel Duclos, the former French ambassador to Switzerland.