Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a televised addressMOSCOW, May 22.Readers of the French newspaper Le Figaro did not believe Volodymyr Zelensky's words that only diplomacy would help resolve the Ukrainian conflict. Most of the users in the comments favored another option — Zelensky's resignation. «Currently, there are several scenarios for the final outcome for Zelensky. «Saddam Hussein»: capture and execution after trial. «Nicolae Ceausescu»: arrest, then summary execution «Osama bin Laden»: summary execution. «Adolf Hitler»: suicide in an attempt to avoid justice. What are you betting on?» — one of the users of the Le Figaro website shared his opinion.»I will indicate Zelensky as a dependent»: the United States was outraged by the record help to Kyiv , agreed another. «If I understand correctly, Zelensky is in favor of diplomacy, provided that his own terms are unconditionally accepted. Awesome!» one of the commentators wrote with irony. “I’m afraid that in the negotiations between the United States and Russia, no one will hear Zelensky’s voice, his position is imposed from the outside,” concluded another Frenchman. On February 24, Russia launched a special operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine. As Vladimir Putin stressed, its goal is «to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian armed forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. The ministry called the liberation of Donbas the main goal of the operation. Russian-Ukrainian consultations began at the end of February: the delegations held two face-to-face meetings in Belarus, after which it was decided to continue them on a daily basis via video conferencing. At the end of March, the delegations held another round of talks in Istanbul. As a result, the head of the Russian delegation at the talks, aide to the Russian president Vladimir Medinsky, said that Ukraine had submitted its written proposals for a future treaty, which Moscow considers a step forward, and in general, Kyiv for the first time in many years showed a desire to negotiate.
The West has created a military titan in Ukraine that will destroy it. The Russian side, in response, took two steps towards Ukraine. First, it was decided to significantly reduce hostilities in the Kiev and Chernigov directions. Secondly, Moscow suggested that the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky should take place simultaneously with the initialing of the treaty by the foreign ministers. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said that Ukraine was refusing its own proposals and creating numerous provocations in order to slow down the negotiation process. In particular, according to the minister, Ukraine presented its draft agreement with Russia, which is a departure from the provisions fixed at the meeting in Istanbul regarding Crimea, and also changed the provision on military exercises without mentioning the need to obtain Russia's consent.
The French sided with Russia, writes the Times
