00:00We begin this broadcast with some breaking news coming in at this point.
00:03After attacking Ukraine and global condemnation for Russia in response to Zelensky's proposal,
00:09the Russian President Vladimir Putin now says that he is ready to send a high-ranking delegation to Minsk for negotiations with Kiev.
00:18All this according to the Kremlin.
00:20Meanwhile, the Belarusian President Lukashenko has assured his strong ally Vladimir Putin
00:27that he would be ready to create all conditions for safety of negotiators from Russia and Ukraine.
00:34The Kremlin has also said that it considers the demilitarization a critical part of Ukraine neutrality.
00:45Some more developments coming in in this crisis at this point.
00:49Ukraine's Defense Ministry says that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were killed so far in the Ukraine conflict.
00:55Ukraine's State Media says that the Ukrainian military vehicles are entering Kiev to defend the capital.
01:02Once more, let's recap the breaking news and the developments coming in at this point.
01:10Starting with what Russia has said and all this in response to the Ukrainian President's proposal for further talks
01:16for a peaceful resolution to this conflict, especially after the Russian attack on Ukraine.
01:22Putin now says that he is ready to send a high-ranking delegation to Minsk in Belarus for negotiations with Kiev.
01:28And according to the Kremlin, Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, has assured Vladimir Putin that he would be ready to create all possible conditions
01:36for the safety of negotiators from both Russia and Ukraine that are currently locked in conflict.
01:44The Kremlin further said that it considers demilitarization a critical part of Ukraine neutrality.
01:49Remember, the Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the attack on Ukraine by saying that his intention was to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.
02:00Now, for more perspective and the recent developments, joining us now is Sergey Strokan, a political observer with the Comisant Publishing House.
02:21He joins us live on this broadcast from Moscow.
02:24Sergey, thanks so much for joining us.
02:25I want your thoughts on the latest update.
02:27The Russian President Vladimir Putin says that he is ready to send a high-ranking delegation to Minsk for negotiations with Kiev.
02:34Could we see a possible de-escalation?
02:38Thanks for having me.
02:39Of course, we always stood for a dialogue, so the suggestion of President Putin came as no surprise to me.
02:47However, the devil is in details.
02:49It is equally true that today President Zelensky was talking about the dialogue.
02:55However, when we talk about dialogue, we have to understand whom are we going to talk to and what are the basic terms and conditions.
03:04Actually, what we expect from this dialogue.
03:06The last thing we want is just to stop the situation halfway, to stop the military operation while keeping intact military regime in Kiev.
03:22It is a hostile nature, its pledges to join NATO and to use Ukraine as a springboard against Russia.
03:34So it means that if we enter into dialogue, there should be a dialogue about a totally new Ukraine with neutral status posing no threat.
03:44But just a dialogue for a ceasefire, that would be pointless and meaningless.
03:50I am not sure that the Ukrainian side has the same vision of a dialogue.
03:55Right.
03:56Just want your thoughts on some more updates coming in.
03:58The latest that we have is that the Ukraine Defense Ministry says that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were killed so far in the Ukraine conflict.
04:06And in fact, Ukraine state media is saying that military vehicles are now entering the capital to defend Ukraine.
04:12We've been hearing reports of Ukraine soldiers and the army taking up positions around the capital, especially after Russian troops were seen in northern suburbs and gunfire was heard.
04:22What's your assessment of the same?
04:24What is the Kremlin saying to justify its actions?
04:28Yeah, I understand.
04:29So, first thing is that when you have hostilities, you may call it war or military operation, always there's also information war and there are conflicting reports, which most of them can be hardly credible.
04:44If you ask me how credible is this report, you know, I don't have any facts, but they look highly questionable, to say the least.
04:54When you say the 1,000 of Russian soldiers were killed, this looks like a fairy tale.
05:02I won't say that this operation is just not a bumpy road for Russian army.
05:10Of course, it's a bumpy road.
05:11And it's quite obvious that the Ukrainian army is conducting its own, trying to maybe somewhere to go for counteroffensive.
05:23You see, casualties are inevitable.
05:27I can't rule out even that probably the Ukrainian army can get some tactical wins at the battleground.
05:34But the most important thing is that, of course, strategically, the initiative is in the hands of Russian army.
05:41There is no way for Ukrainian army to come as some dramatic turnaround in the whole of that military operation.
05:49Right, Sergey, these, of course, are contentious claims.
05:52These are contentious claims that we at RN need to verify.
05:55I also want your thoughts on something else.
05:57We have been talking recently about a new strategic alliance emerging.
06:01China's President Xi Jinping has held talks with Putin and supports solving the Ukraine conflict through talks and dialogue.
06:07Will this impact Moscow's decision in any which way?
06:11Well, you know, I was analyzing the Chinese position, scrutinizing it very carefully.
06:18And in fact, for my paper, I wrote a story on China.
06:21And my take is, and I spoke to experts here, so my take is that China is highly avasible.
06:28I want to emphasize that.
06:30Because if you analyze the statements that they're making, you see, they refrain from just saying some straightforward things.
06:42They're saying some general blah, blah about, so we all call all parties for peace and dialogue.
06:47We want peace, like that, you know.
06:49So, that's why it's very ambivalent in its nature.
06:52So, Russian side, if it likes, it can interpret as the support which is given to Russia.
06:59However, Ukrainian side, and if you go to the statements of Ukrainian ministry, it interprets it as a support of Ukraine.
07:07So, of course, China is our strategic partner, but China would never, you see, move even a millimeter to support Russia when it can somehow jeopardize its relations with the West.
07:23Because China's foreign policy agenda is overwhelmed, you know, overloaded with the problems.
07:31So, they don't need additional irritation points.
07:36Right.
07:36Let's talk about the topic that everybody wants to know about, the sweeping sanctions imposed by the West on Russia.
07:43Will they work to deter Russia in any which way?
07:45They have failed to do so clearly in the past.
07:47What are your thoughts?
07:47Well, there are some experts here who are trying to downplay the sanctions, who boast that say that they will make us stronger.
07:56I am not that optimist, you see.
07:58Let us be frank.
07:59This is very serious sanctions, which can severely hurt Russia's economy, because all the question is about financial sector depriving us of the right to have access to financial assets.
08:15That also is a blow to our cooperation in high technology, dual technologies.
08:22They want to switch us off from that.
08:24So, that would not stop our development, but that would, of course, create serious constraints.
08:32You in India passed through similar time in the 90s.
08:36You are well aware of what sanctions is.
08:38But as you know, any sanction rule is a double-edged sword.
08:41And also, there are two, as I told to my Indian colleagues today, there are two red lines which the West can't cross this time.
08:48One red line is that the West can't go for a full-scale war with Russia, because Russia is a nuclear power.
08:56And the second red line is that the West can't impose the sanction which would switch Russia out of strategic energy markets.
09:05So, it means that with all the sanctions, we would be still able to sell gas and oil, which is one of the major, you know, foreign reserves in income.
09:23You understand what I'm saying?
09:24Right, absolutely.
09:26Sergey, just wrapping up our discussion here, I'm going to ask you the same question that we've been asking all experts and analysts.
09:32What, according to you, are Putin's intentions at this point?
09:35Will Russian aggression spread to other European nations as well?
09:40Well, I would refrain from using the word aggression, since this is a part of, you know, propaganda rhetoric.
09:51Of course, what Putin is doing can be questioned.
09:56Of course, some may say that it violates international norms, international rulings.
10:02But you also, you know well that if you look at international law, it's full of contradicting clauses.
10:09Look at Kashmir.
10:09It is interpreted in different.
10:11Right.
10:11Look at any other international issues.
10:14But, let me tell you that the whole story is about President Putin, whether you like it or not, being very unhappy with the present state of Ukrainian state as such.
10:30That's why, you see, he tries somehow to change.
10:33Right.
10:34Sergey, I'm afraid we're running out of time.
10:36Thank you for all those inputs.
10:38Yeah, I'm afraid we're running out of time.
10:40Thank you so much for speaking to us on We On World as well.
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