“The Russians have sent negotiators who are maximally unpleasant for Ukraine”

Two unexpected Russian figures appeared at the negotiating table in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

The goal seems to be to mock the Ukrainians and pull out on the peace talks endlessly.

– I couldn’t imagine that they would pick up such a figure from the closet, says journalist Sergei Gorjash.

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Over the past weekend, what is described as technical negotiations on ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia, under the direction of Donald Trump’s Ukrainian signature Keith Kellogg.

Today Tuesday, the parties agreed on partial ceasefire in the Black Sea. Military expert Joakim Paasikivi believes it is most advantageous for Russia:

-The Russian Black Sea fleet has been raised about 30 percent losses by Ukraine and can no longer operate on the Western Black Sea. So this is one thing that Russia can benefit from, he says.

But from a partial ceasefire in the sea to a complete across the country – that would benefit Ukraine – the step is still a long way. Maybe not so surprising, considering which representatives Vladimir Putin sent to Riyadh.

“Odd duo”

While Volodymyr Zelenskyj sent Ukraine Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, 42, and the presidential adviser in war issues Pavlo Palisa, 40, to the negotiating table, the Russian president has contrasted with an odd duo, According to the BBC’s Russian News Podcast Tjto Eto Bylo.

General Sergei Beseda, 70, was long head of the Russian security service FSB’s fifth agency, which is in charge of the Foreign Penalty. Nowadays he is described as an adviser to FSB’s Director General.

When 49 Ukrainian protesters were shot dead on February 20, 2014 by snipers during the Euromajdan Revolution in Kiev-which led to the then President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country-Sergej Bededa was in place in the Ukrainian capital.

“Maximum unpleasant”

Later, Ukrainian investigators concluded that Russia was partly responsible for the massacre, and it was written in the media that Beseda’s presence in Kiev contributed to the incident. Russian representatives did not deny that Bededa was in Ukraine’s capital right then, but claimed that he had a completely different case.

The other Russian negotiator in Saudi Arabia-75-year-old Grigorij Karasin-is now senator and leads the Russian Federation Council’s Foreign Committee. When the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, he demanded that “Kiev-Juntan be overthrown”. Already in 2014, he was appointed Putin’s personal representative to monitor the actions of the Russian forces in Ukraine.

Karasin has made itself known as a difficult negotiator. Former American ambassador to Russia John Sullivan wrote in his memoirs about negotiations with Karasin 2021, on gearing American prisoners against Russian. The deliberations did not lead anywhere. On the contrary – during the same period, instead, the number of American prisoners increased in Russian prisons.

Journalist Sergei Gorjasko, who is interviewed in the BBC’s Russian podcast, believes that Ukraine has sent negotiators with adequate knowledge to Saudi Arabia, while Russia has not. He says:

– The Russians have sent people that Ukraine thinks are maximally unpleasant, to discuss technical details. It shows that Putin and his gang are not interested in any ceasefire. Time is on Putin’s side, he does not need any very peace, says Gorjasjko and continues:

– Before it became known that Bededa would participate in the negotiations, I could not imagine that they would pick up such a figure from the wardrobe. The appointment of such unexpected figures for technical negotiations means that the calls will extract further at the time.