Former US diplomat Jim Jatras reveals the truth behind the Ukraine negotiations — calling them a Kabuki dance 🎭, a theatrical show meant to prolong the war, not end it.
Dive into the real motives behind the West’s hidden agenda and why peace talks might just be a performance to keep the conflict alive.
Stay informed with deep insights on global politics, diplomacy, and the Ukraine crisis. 🌍✌️
🔔 Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more eye-opening analyses!
00:00Bring in our guests now. We're crossing live to former U.S. diplomat Jim Jatras.
00:04Mr. Jatras, many thanks for joining us today. It's good to see you.
00:07So the second round of talks between Moscow and Kiev have wrapped up.
00:11But what are your thoughts on the outcome?
00:14And what do you make of the differing statements that followed from the Russian and Ukrainian delegations?
00:20Well, I think it's pretty clear that, you know, if it wasn't clear before yesterday
00:25that there was not going to be any real agreement or a peace agreement or a stable peace coming from these talks,
00:31it should be clear to everybody now that there's a reason why the Ukrainians wanted to poison the well going into the second round,
00:39because it's clear they don't want any kind of agreement.
00:42They want to aggravate the situation as much as possible and try to force Moscow into some kind of situation
00:48where they would agree to something like a truce, something like a ceasefire,
00:52which, of course, Moscow does not want to do, so the war will grind on.
00:57And I think we have to expect that they will pull more dirty tricks out of their bag of tricks as this goes on.
01:04You know, ahead of the negotiations, Ukraine's memorandum was leaked to the media,
01:09and the document showed that Kiev will not support recognition of Russia's new territories
01:14and will demand reparations from Moscow.
01:16Of course, these are obvious red lines for the Kremlin who've made it very clear what their stance is.
01:23How realistic is Kiev's position?
01:25And is there any chance that in the talks going ahead that one of the sides or both sides might become more flexible with their terms?
01:33Obviously, those terms, as they're written, are not realistic at all.
01:38But I don't think they're designed to be realistic.
01:40What they're designed to do is to basically force any kind of small inclination,
01:45I think it's only a small inclination, of the Trump administration to try to meet the Russian concerns on some reasonable basis
01:53to force them back onto the reservation, so to speak.
01:56You know, the Europeans and Kiev are of one mind, and let's be honest, most of the people in Washington are of the same mind.
02:02Look, we have Lindsey Graham and Senator Blumenthal out there talking about their new sanctions from hell bill.
02:08The only thing they've got is Trump, maybe, and Witkoff, who maybe at least want to listen to the Russian side.
02:14But if they can rub enough salt into the wounds here, I think they feel they can force him back
02:19into a kind of a Biden or Biden-lite kind of stance in support of Kiev, and that the war will go on.
02:25And then Russians either will be faced with the prospect of winning a military victory outright
02:31and imposing a settlement by force, which they're very hesitant to do because they've made it clear
02:36they would rather have a peace agreement.
02:38But the only agreement they'll be able to get is some kind of a truce,
02:42which is not what Moscow wants, but it's certainly what the West wants.
02:45If Ukraine is hell-bent on continuing this conflict, as you say, why even bother to turn up for the talks at all?
02:54It's all for show.
02:55I mean, I think they're there just to show that, yes, we're willing to talk,
03:00but only in terms of presenting our ultimatum that the losing side demands that the winning side should surrender.
03:07And that's all this is.
03:08But I think it's part of a big kabuki dance to get to what their real goal is, which is a ceasefire.
03:14And they are, I think, shoring up their side with its demands in order to try to force Moscow
03:19to meet that partial goal on their part, because what they really want is a kind of a new kind of a Korean situation,
03:26you know, a hot peace or a Cold War that will go on for decades
03:30and keep these kind of governments in power for decades, especially in Europe.
03:34As I'm sure you know, ahead of the talks, Ukraine attacked Russia with a series of drone strikes.
03:40And Zelensky has been boasting about those strikes, saying that his operatives took more than a year and a half to plan that attack.
03:48But given the scale of the Ukraine conflict, is this really the major achievement that he's presenting it as?
03:57In terms of the course of the war, no, of course not.
03:59But again, that's not what they're designed to be.
04:01You know, people have commented that Russia has shown tremendous restraint and caution in its conduct of these hostilities.
04:11But in the West, that's read as weakness.
04:14That's read as vulnerability.
04:15They look at that as an open opportunity to say, oh, you didn't respond to that?
04:19Well, let's take this down and see how you respond to that.
04:21Oh, you didn't respond to that?
04:23Well, let's see how you like this.
04:25The seriousness of this cannot be overstated.
04:27I mean, remember back in, I think it was May of 2024, when there was a strike on the Armavir radar.
04:34That's part of Russia's strategic posture.
04:37It's not having to do anything to do with the war in Ukraine.
04:40That was the case here.
04:41This is something that is deadly serious in terms of a strategic balance between the United States and Russia.
04:47And these people think they can take it as a sort of a free penalty kick because they don't believe there will actually be that serious of a Russian response.
04:57Of course, Zelensky, what he's saying is that it's Moscow that's doing everything it can to prevent these negotiations from producing any real results.
05:05Have you seen any evidence to support these accusations?
05:07No, quite the contrary.
05:10It's the opposite.
05:12Russia still is not only talking in terms of negotiations, but in terms of a treaty of ironclad guarantees and things of that sort, which, again, from my mind, are totally illusory.
05:24There's simply no guarantee, no treaty, no Security Council resolution that can actually meet what Moscow's stated goals are of denazification and demilitarization.
05:34You know, they can promise those things in some future document as part of maybe a ceasefire agreement.
05:41But based on past experience, there's absolutely no reason to believe that any of those guarantees or commitments by the West would be carried out.
05:50It is, though, a positive sign that the two sides have agreed to meet again later in June for a third round of talks.
05:57And, you know, baby steps have been taken.
06:00Prisoners of war have been exchanged at the largest since, you know, the conflict began.
06:04And today we have the bodies of soldiers also being returned.
06:09So it's baby steps, but it's steps in the right direction, wouldn't you say?
06:12I would say they're baby steps and they're maybe valuable in and of themselves, certainly for the people concerned, the prisoners.
06:21Certainly, it's wonderful to have the bodies of those who died returned to their families.
06:26But I don't think they're baby steps toward anything, any place in particular.
06:30I think there may be baby steps sideways that have really nothing to do with how this war is going to resolve itself.
