Yatsenyuk: U.S. administration fails to see Putin is bluffing

The Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014-2016 expressed this opinion in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to him, the situation for Russians is extremely difficult: there are major problems at the front, and problems in the economy have begun. However, after Washington’s pressure on Ukraine, “the Russians have found their voice, they have already begun to articulate force,” the politician noted.

“Putin has become stronger over the past few months,” Yatsenyuk said.

In his opinion, Putin will demand control over the entire territory of Ukraine, which he illegally included in his constitution, the cancellation of the NATO summit decision in one form or another, and demilitarization.

“He will demand everything that was envisaged in the so-called Belarus-Minsk-Istanbul agreements, which are referred to every time by the war criminal Putin, as well as another war criminal Lavrov, and which have been cited by the US President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. These are Russia’s goals,” Yatsenyuk said.

He also expressed his belief that if it were not for the change in the US position on Ukraine with the arrival of the new administration, we “would have been much stronger in the negotiations.”

As reported, US Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg believes that the so-called Istanbul agreements cannot be considered a fair framework for a future agreement, and a new document is needed. This is how he commented on the opinion of US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff that the so-called Istanbul Protocol could be the basis for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.

On February 18, the American delegation and Russian representatives held talks in Saudi Arabia. The US side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff. The Russian side was represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, and the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

Next week, Ukrainian and US teams will meet in Saudi Arabia, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed. According to him, the visit to Saudi Arabia will begin on Monday. The President of Ukraine is scheduled to meet with the Crown Prince. After that, the President’s team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with American partners.