1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,759 Speaker 1: Surprise, surprise, Putin didn't turn out for peace talks in Ukraine, 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,399 Speaker 1: Krimlin confirming Russia's delegation is instead being lead by Presidential 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: aid of Vladimir Medinsky. Zelensky is also pulled out, sending 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: his defense Minister. 5 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 2: Russia offered in the media that Putin is ready for 6 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 2: direct negotiations, and then are the information the roles that 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 2: it's not decided yet, So it's. 8 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: Just starks now, yeah, what does that mean? Jimmy Rushton 9 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,159 Speaker 1: is and Kiev. He's a foreign policy and securely at 10 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: security analyst with me this morning, Jimmy, good morning, Welcome 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: to the show. 12 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 3: Hi, good morning. 13 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: What does what does he mean Zelensky? By now they're 14 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: just talks. 15 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 3: Well, essentially, what Putin had said in this rather hasty 16 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 3: pres coompence that he rated about a week ago was 17 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 3: that he he challenged Zelensky to come to Turkey and 18 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 3: have a conversation face to face. As Zelensky took him 19 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 3: up on the offer, he turned up in Turkey, but 20 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 3: obviously Putin has not, and he sent Medinsky, who is 21 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 3: a very low level official really in the Kremlin. He's 22 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 3: also the same Russian official that led the peace talks 23 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 3: in early twenty twenty two, and to be honest, peace 24 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 3: talks is a generous term because at that point Mitinsky 25 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 3: was essentially saying that Ukrainians should unconditionally surrender. So it's 26 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 3: really seen by the Ukrainian side as a slap in 27 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 3: the face and a sign that Russia continues their maximalist 28 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 3: goals of subjugating Ukraine and making it into a Russian 29 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 3: puppet state. 30 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: Is there anyone no one's preparing, even in the background, 31 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: behind the scenes, for there to be some kind of 32 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: serious ceasefire or peace agreement. I mean, Russia's still building 33 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: new explosives facilities to build more drugs and build more bombs. 34 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean it's clear that the Russians are 35 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 3: planning for this war to continue for some time. And 36 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 3: it's pretty clear if you look at some of their 37 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 3: recent build ups is that they're you know, they're building 38 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 3: up forces along the Finnish border, and they're building up 39 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 3: forces along the Estonian border and some of the other 40 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 3: Baltic states as well. So it's pretty clear that they're 41 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 3: not ready for any sort of sustainable peace with Europe, 42 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 3: let alone Ukraine. 43 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: Jimmy, what do Ukrainians think of Donald Trump's you know, 44 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: he's come out today over night and said nothing will 45 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: happen until I'm in the room with Pusian. What did 46 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: Ukrainians think when he's his stuff like that. 47 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 3: Well, initially Ukrainians had a relatively favorable or at least 48 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 3: a more generous opinion of Trump, around forty percent of 49 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,519 Speaker 3: Ukrainians back in November of last year we're willing to 50 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 3: give him a chance, and that's dropped around seven percent 51 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 3: of Ukrainians having any form of positive opinion of him. 52 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 2: Now. 53 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 3: I mean, he's largely viewed as as someone who's definitely 54 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 3: not favorable to Ukraine and probably more favorable to Putin 55 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 3: and of a strong man, you know, people like Kim 56 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 3: Jong un president year of China, and he's he's not 57 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 3: recent as kind of a friend of the Western democracies 58 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 3: at all. I think for Ukrainians they feel that they 59 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 3: need to manage him as best they can, kind of 60 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 3: placate his ego. That was one of the reasons why 61 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,079 Speaker 3: they signed this mineral steel, to give him something that 62 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 3: he could boast about. But yeah, I think they're really 63 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 3: taking it day to day trying to keep him on 64 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 3: side as best they can, but they're aware that he's, 65 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 3: you know, incredibly temperamental and he can change his opinion 66 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 3: pretty much on the spot. 67 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: He's a hard dog to keep on the porch. Jimmy, 68 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Jimmy Rashton, Kiev based foreign policy security 69 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: security analysts with us this morning. For more from Early 70 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to news Talks it'd 71 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.