We now know why the only credible peace deal between Russia and Ukraine collapsed
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published new details of the failed Ukraine peace talk held in Istanbul in the spring of 2022. The story resembles some kind of off-the-wall pro-Kiev propaganda along the lines of ‘look how Moscow tried to subjugate them, it’s no wonder the Ukrainians refused.’
Today, we’ll try to reconstruct the events and understand why the peace agreements were sabotaged, what role each party played in the process, and whether it was really former British prime minister Boris Johnson who scuppered a deal.
The bifurcation point
For those who don’t remember the exact chronology of the events, here’s a short recap of what happened. Others may just scroll to the next section.
Negotiations on a diplomatic settlement to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev began back in February 2022, four days after the start of Russia’s military operation. The first three rounds of negotiations were held in Belarus, and on March 10, they continued in Istanbul with a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine.