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Report
US, Ukraine officials in new Saudi talks, no breakthrough with Russia
FRANCE 24 English
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3/25/2025
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00:00
We're going to talk more about the ceasefire from the Russian angle now with analyst Mark
00:04
Tamnitsky, who joins me from Washington.
00:06
Mark, thank you for taking the time to join us.
00:09
I mean, we heard about 12 hours of talks between Russia and the U.S.
00:13
Is that a good sign or a bad sign?
00:16
No one knows.
00:17
First of all, thank you again for having me.
00:19
It's a pleasure to be back on.
00:20
This is something that analysts are trying to determine because the Russians have been
00:24
speaking with the Americans on several occasions.
00:28
But there's also much skepticism with how the ceasefire will move forward.
00:32
For example, as your colleague was mentioning, the Russians are meeting with the United States
00:36
to discuss a ceasefire.
00:38
And at the same time, they are launching multiple drone strikes, not on military abilities that
00:42
Ukraine has, but on civilian and energy areas within Ukraine.
00:47
And they're targeting men, women and children.
00:48
And that doesn't sound like a country that's interested in having a ceasefire.
00:52
And we're also hearing Russian reports that say Russia wants to open up these talks to
00:56
other countries and to the U.N.
00:59
What would be behind that move?
01:02
It's an interesting development, as the Russians have previously stated that they don't want
01:05
other countries involved.
01:07
And the Russians are very well aware that numerous U.N. resolutions have been passed
01:11
since the full-scale invasion in February of 2022, condemning the Russian Federation.
01:15
This is a very strong international support for Ukraine.
01:21
And many of these United Nations countries, whether they be in the traditional Western
01:25
sense of Europe and the United States, but several other countries throughout South
01:29
America, Africa and Asia and Oceania, also support Ukraine.
01:33
And there will be discussions on further Ukrainian support, potentially even sending troops to
01:39
the contact line within Ukraine to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against potential
01:44
future Russian attacks.
01:45
So it's odd that the Russians would invite other countries around, knowing that they
01:49
do not support Russia and what it's doing in its core.
01:53
And what's interesting, I mean, the U.S. has been the go-between, at least in this
01:56
round of ceasefire talks.
01:58
I guess my question is, is the U.S. the right negotiating partner, especially given these
02:02
latest comments from top Trump officials slamming Europe via that group chat chain that looped
02:07
in a journalist?
02:10
What's very odd as well is not only has the United States had these conversations separately
02:14
with Ukraine and with Russia, no European representation has been invited to any of
02:18
these talks.
02:19
And Ukraine is a country within Europe.
02:22
Ukraine is a country that wants to be integrated with various European organizations, such
02:26
as the European Union, and the Europeans feel that they should also be present.
02:30
So while it is important that the war does end, it seems like the United States is trying
02:36
to rush forward some sort of peace agreement without considering future possibilities.
02:41
And having European representation is very important, not only for Ukraine, but also
02:45
for European security and what this could mean on the way forward.
02:48
So the Europeans, I think, as well as the United Kingdom, would be better positioned
02:53
because this country is within Europe and it impacts them as well.
02:58
And just to remind everyone, these talks at the moment are really just about hammering
03:00
out a partial pause in the war, a 30-day ceasefire.
03:04
If it's been such a struggle to even get to this limited ceasefire point, do you ever
03:08
see the two sides getting to a full ceasefire agreement?
03:12
And if so, how?
03:14
It is possible, but that is a long ways away.
03:18
And unfortunately, there are numerous historic events where Russia has violated ceasefires
03:23
previously.
03:24
For example, in the invasion of Georgia in August 2008, there was a ceasefire saying
03:28
that the Russians had to withdraw their military presence in the provinces of Abkhazia and
03:33
South Ossetia in Georgia.
03:34
That was 2008.
03:35
It is now 2025, and the Russians still have a military presence within Georgia.
03:40
And then similarly, during the first invasion of Ukraine in the Donbas in April of 2014,
03:45
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe created a ceasefire agreement saying
03:49
that the Russians had to withdraw their troops and military presence within eastern Ukraine,
03:54
and eight years later, that led to the full-scale invasion.
03:56
So understandably so, there's a lot of skepticism from the Ukrainians as well as the Europeans
04:01
that a deal currently cannot be reached with the Russians.
04:04
And then most recently, the Russians last week said that they would be open to having
04:09
a ceasefire and energy infrastructure, and several hours after that conversation with
04:12
the United States, they launched drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
04:17
Mark, thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us.
04:19
That's Mark Timitsky from Washington.
04:23
Thank you again.
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