RT @xaviercolas: Mientras su país se deslizaba hacia el totalitarismo, Alexander @baunov publicó 'El final del régimen', un repaso a los co….

I don’t really share much about the interviews I do for foreign newspapers. In Italy, there have been quite a few lately because of the book — maybe I’ll post some of those another time. But here’s one, for example: this weekend in the Spanish El Mundo, by @xaviercolas Xavier

RT @biannagolodryga: “65% of Russians support the idea of immediate peace talks with Ukraine. The problem is that the same amount of Russia….

The #suicide of federal minister of transportation Roman #Starovoit, ex-governor of Kursk region, invaded last summer by Ukrainian military) even if it remains an isolated incident, is still a watershed event for the ruling elite. When Putin has repeatedly said that “this is not.

RT @Carnegie_Europe: ⌛️| LIVE NOW. Russian society is diverse, with varying views from opposition figures to ordinary citizens, painting a….

RT @S_B_Editore: «La guerra serve a Putin non per difendere la Russia, ma per difendere se stesso.».@baunov, oggi sul @sole24ore, analizza….

RT @CarnegieRu: Как долго может продлиться конфликт Ирана и Израиля — и что новая политика Израиля может означать для России? Смотрите и сл….

Baunov said Russia was careful to maintain Trump’s goodwill, while attempting to deflect blame onto Ukraine for the failure of the peace process. “They need President Trump, and to not lose President Trump, so they have to at least pretend they are engaged in conversation with.

15/15 There’s also a clear intention to stun the White House and international community with a show of constructiveness: look at all the things we’ve put on the table.

14/15 The overall impression, at first glance, is this: Ukraine is being offered the possibility of serious talks only if they involve a “Final Settlement” that includes “root causes”, regime change, and, ultimately, the transfer of territory.

13/15 So even in this scenario, the ceasefire doesn’t freeze the front lines — it merely establishes a 30-day pause to allow Ukrainian forces to retreat without a fight. It’s not entirely clear how this differs, in substance, from the first “option.”.

12/15 Even more troubling is the fifth step: the ceasefire takes effect once Ukrainian troops begin to withdraw, and the full pullout “from Russian territory” must occur within thirty days.

11/15 Specifically, the first step in executing the “Package Proposal” is launching negotiations on a Peace Treaty — the current draft of which contains the entire maximalist agenda. These demands could, of course, be modified during the negotiations, but the result is that.

10/15 What makes the “package” version currently unacceptable for Kyiv is a fourth document, titled “Sequence of Steps,” in which realistic and feasible measures are mixed with full-throttle maximalist demands.

9/15 Strictly speaking, some of these points are feasible on their own and could form part of a workable ceasefire deal — assuming Russia reciprocates with similar steps (halting recruitment of contract soldiers, ceasing Iranian arms purchases, rejecting North Korean manpower,.

8/15 Instead of demanding a troop withdrawal from the “new Russian regions,” this version makes preliminary a different and familiar list of conditions: halting Ukrainian troop movements, ending Western arms supplies, banning foreign deployments, halting strikes on Russian.

7/15 The second version is called a “package agreement” and links the ceasefire to a political transition in Kyiv.

6/15 The first version of the ceasefire terms consists of a single line: it demands the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from all the territory that Russia has, on paper, annexed. It is clearly a non-starter.

5/15 Even these more negotiable assets — namely, the document titled “Ceasefire Terms�� — are themselves split into a hopeless section and one that is slightly more promising.

4/15 In that case, Russia’s demands are effectively divided into bad, hopeless assets and, to put it cautiously, more negotiable ones.