Peace is not Peace for Putin, Meaning he is Unlikely to Turn up for Peace Talks - Silicon Curtain
Edition No142 | 14-05-2025 - Why did Putin suddenly seem so desperate for direct peace talks with Ukraine, when hes been avoiding the optics and consequences of such a meeting for more than three years? This is the question asked by the Moscow Times, ahead of the anticipated talks in Istanbul.
Putins proposed meeting with Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul on Thursday, including Zelenskyy will potentially mark the first direct talks between the two sides since the early weeks of Russias full-scale invasion. But this first step towards the peace process apparently demanded by the Trump administration has turned into a game of chicken, on a geopolitical scale. More akin to brinkmanship than diplomacy, we are witness to an extraordinary piece of political drama, a theatre of the absurd for the social media age, comprised of tactical twists and turns, but seemingly with precious little strategy, on either the side of Russia or the US.