JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Talks That Could Have Ended the War in Ukraine” – Foreign Affairs: Samuel Charap, Sergey Radchenko

“A Hidden History of Diplomacy That Came Up Short—but Holds Lessons for Future Negotiations”

“… By the end of March 2022, a series of in-person meetings in Belarus and Turkey and virtual engagements over video conference … produced the so-called Istanbul Communiqué … describ[ing] a framework for a settlement. Ukrainian and Russian negotiators then began working on the text of a treaty, making substantial progress toward an agreement. But in May, the talks broke off. The war raged on …. In reality, however, the Russians and the Ukrainians never arrived at a final compromise text. But they went further … than has been previously understood, reaching an overarching framework for a possible agreement …. a reminder that Putin and Zelensky were willing to consider extraordinary compromises to end the war. So if and when Kyiv and Moscow return to the negotiating table, they’ll find it littered with ideas that could yet prove useful in building a durable peace.”

Click here for: “The Talks That Could Have Ended the War in Ukraine; A Hidden History of Diplomacy That Came Up Short—but Holds Lessons for Future Negotiations” – Foreign Affairs: Samuel Charap, Sergey Radchenko