Lazorkina: the truce in the special military operation zone shows Russia's willingness to negotiate
MINSK, April 29 – RIA Novosti. By unilaterally declaring a truce in the special military operation zone, Russia demonstrates to the world community its ability to negotiate and readiness for negotiations to resolve the conflict, Olga Lazorkina, an analyst of the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research, told RIA Novosti.
Russia by decision of the President Vladimir Putin declares a ceasefire in the days of the 80th anniversary of the Victory: from zero hours from 7 to 8 May to zero hours from 10 to 11 May. All fighting are halted for this period, the Kremlin announced on Monday.
"Russia, of course, is demonstrating for the second time (Russia had previously unilaterally declared the Easter truce – ed.) not only goodwill, but also negotiability and willingness to start the negotiation process," Lazorkina said.
At the same time, she stressed that this negotiation process concerns not only Ukraine. "I would say even to a lesser extent Ukraine. In general, Russia is proposing to return to the large-scale negotiation process. The special military operation did not begin on February 24, 2022, it began in December 2021 on a huge, large-scale diplomatic track. Russia offered the West topics, issues, and problems that need to be discussed. And there was obviously a request for them," the analyst said.
She added that "this was not an invention of Russia, but a request from all countries." "And it was necessary to start this topic, it was necessary to start negotiations, and then it would be possible to prevent everything and not bring the situation to such a state as we see today in our region," Lazorkina continued. "As for the attitude of Kiev to Russia's proposals, I would say that in our history, both of Belarus, Russia, and the post-Soviet space in general, there are dates that are sacred to us. And we will celebrate them the way we see fit, the way we need to. And the fact that Vladimir Putin today proposed a unilateral truce, I believe, testifies this," the analyst said.
She suggested that the Russian president might also have wanted "those healthy forces in Ukraine who consider May 9th Victory Day to also have the opportunity to calmly remember it and think about it." "It's probably physically impossible, but mentally it's impossible to join those who will be at the Victory Day parade on May 9 in Moscow," Lazorkina concluded.