The UAF Literally Saved Putin's SMO With Their Invasion

Kiev won't let Putin surrender though because of their shared Shonen Friendship values.

The Washington Post had an interesting write-up of what was happening behind the scenes while the reverse SMO into Kursk was occurring. It turns out that negotiations were set to begin between Kiev and Moscow in Qatar. So, the reverse SMO was essentially an attempt by Zelensky to spike the negotiations, as it turns out. Veteran Stalkers will find nothing too surprising in the revelations though, although perhaps it is a bit unnerving to see just how close Putin was to capitulation on all the goals of his SMO before the Ukrainian army heroically forced him to table the talks after their invasion of Russia.

This is similar to how Boris Johnson urged Zelensky to refuse Putin’s treacherous Istanbul capitulation, essentially salvaging the Novorussian cause.

Key words: territory exchange, gentleman’s deals, Rurik was right.

Here:

Ukraine and Russia were set to send delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a landmark agreement halting strikes on energy and power infrastructure on both sides, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said, in what would have amounted to a partial cease-fire and offered a reprieve for both countries.

But the indirect talks, with the Qataris serving as mediators and meeting separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last week, according to the officials. The possible agreement and planned summit have not been previously reported.

For more than a year, Russia has pounded Ukraine’s power grid with a barrage of cruise missiles and drone strikes, causing irreparable damage to power stations and rolling blackouts across the country. Meanwhile, Ukraine has struck Russia’s oil facilities with long-range drone attacks that have set ablaze refineries, depots and reservoirs, reducing Moscow’s oil refining by an estimated 15 percent and raising gas prices around the world.

WOW.

Some involved in the negotiations hoped they could lead to a more comprehensive agreement to end the war, according to the officials who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.

The willingness to engage in the talks signaled something of a shift for both countries, at least for a limited cease-fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv would consider a full cease-fire only if Russia first withdrew all of its troops from Ukrainian land, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine first cede four Ukrainian regions — including some territory that Russian forces aren’t occupying — that the Kremlin has declared as part of Russia.

Good for Pypa! Never doubted him!

Ukrainian and Russian officials haven’t met face to face for talks since the first months of the war, when delegations from both sides convened for secret talks in Istanbul. Those negotiations eventually fell apart. Later, the two sides agreed to a grain deal that led to Russia temporarily lifting a naval blockade, allowing Ukraine to transfer grain through the Black Sea. That, too, collapsed months later when Russia pulled out of the deal. Other attempts to establish humanitarian corridors have largely failed.

Uh, actually, Russia has refused to reimpose the blockade and Ukraine trades freely now. They’ve also lost like, what, 80% of their Black Sea fleet now? Russia’s I mean. So maybe they can’t do much even if they tried. But they sure as hell aren’t trying.

A diplomat briefed on the talks said Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials after Ukraine’s incursion into western Russia. Moscow’s delegation described it as “an escalation,” the diplomat said, adding that Kyiv did not warn Doha about its cross-border offensive.

Russia “didn’t call off the talks, they said give us time,” the diplomat said.

Holy and moley.

There is literally nothing short of a nuclear first strike carried out by NATO that would get Moscow to grow anything resembling a spine. They’re cool with the invasion of Russia in Moscow, but it will take them some time to figure out how to spin this development in the media. That is essentially what they are saying.

Unbelievable.

This is worse than anything that I’ve predicted, actually, because it’s so on the nail.