Zelensky stands firm in Istanbul as Russia launches its summer offensive in Donbas
Reporter and journalist María Senovilla, a contributor to Atalayar, analysed the possible negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul on Onda Madrid's programme ‘De cara al mundo.’ She also mentioned the Russian summer offensive.
The fact that it is scheduled and that they are sitting down at the table, if they do sit down, because, well, in the last few hours there have been doubts, is already a step forward, but expectations have been dashed, haven't they?
Yes, steps must be taken towards a peace agreement. Zelensky knows this, the countries of the European Union know this, and the United States, although it also knows this, has unfortunately not been able to channel or free up this process.
The results are these meetings and disagreements that we are seeing these days. You mentioned that the delegations arriving in Türkiye were not top-level. Here in Ukraine, these statements such as ‘Putin is going,’ ‘Trump may also go in person,’ ‘we may sit down,’ ‘we may not,’ are already coming across as a bucket of freezing water.
On Thursday, when the Russian delegation arrived in Türkiye and a presidential adviser, Medinsky, took the floor, the anger of Zelensky and the entire Ukrainian delegation, which was indeed top-level and had travelled there, was noticeable and understandable. The Ukrainian president refused to receive this Russian delegation, which Putin had clearly sent to humiliate Ukraine, and appointed his defence minister, Umiérov, to convey the proposal once again for a 30-day ceasefire, which Russia has been dodging for months.
Trump did not help either. The US president said it was normal that Putin had not gone and that if he had gone, Putin would certainly have met with him in person. In addition to Marco Rubio, the United States sent its director of political planning, Michael Anton, to lead the negotiating team, humiliating Ukraine, and Zelensky a little more.
Finally, trilateral meetings have been held, with Türkiye, the United States and Ukraine on one side, and Türkiye, Russia, and Ukraine on the other. But with mediation teams that the Ukrainian president has described as decorative and which highlight Putin's lack of intention to put an end to this war, which continues to claim the lives of hundreds of people every day.
Zelensky has travelled to Türkiye, where a new meeting of Western leaders is being held today. Pedro Sánchez has been there. There has been a meeting of defence ministers from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Poland and Italy, but Margarita Robles has not been present. We are outside the centre of power, the centre where decisions are made in the world and in Europe. Zelensky is rising to the occasion, he is standing up and he has no problem with that. It could be seen as a sign of weakness, but in any case, he is rising to the occasion, and he is where he needs to be, whether it is to negotiate or to try to gain more support.
From Ukraine's point of view, this is not seen as a weakness, quite the contrary. The fact that the president is making these tours, visiting all the countries, not saying no to any opportunity to open negotiations, is being very well received here.
Both Zelensky and Erdogan held a private meeting and after this meeting the Ukrainian president publicly thanked Erdogan and the entire Turkish people for their support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
He also said that Turkish President Erdogan had recognised Crimea as part of the territory that Russia must return to Ukraine. Zelensky insisted that this was an especially important signal, not only politically, but also personally, as it underlines the friendship that unites the two presidents, and which is then transferred to the support of the Turkish people for the Ukrainian people.
To provide some context, it is important to note that before the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was a large Turkish population, especially a large community of university students, and since the war began, Ukrainian citizens have been well received and welcomed in Turkey, which is why Zelensky has always referred to this country as a good ally.
The Ukrainian president also took the opportunity to emphasise that Türkiye had indeed sent a delegation of equal rank, in fact Erdogan was there to attend the meetings, but then the negotiating teams that sat down at the table had to be reformulated. However, he stressed that Türkiye had risen to the occasion and ended his appearance by recalling that this multinational meeting to resume talks at a higher level had been proposed by Putin and endorsed by Trump, who then did not even deign to show up.
Indeed, it was Putin who offered those negotiations in Istanbul in the early hours of the morning. It seems that the commander of the Kharkiv front claims that Russia has already begun its summer offensive and that Russian troops have also advanced in the Donbas in recent days. That is the reality, is it not?
Unfortunately, yes, the spokesperson for the Kharkiv operational tactical group, Pablo Sanchín, relayed this information from the commander. He reported, while all this controversy over the delegations in Türkiye was unfolding, that on the eastern front, Russia had already launched its summer offensive.
The summer offensive is just a title, because here it is 7 degrees, it's raining heavily, and I'm told from the front line that the mud is wreaking havoc and that the weather conditions are making it difficult for the Ukrainians to gather and for the wounded to be evacuated. In any case, the Ukrainian army warns that Russia has already begun its summer offensive, which has seen many troops amassed on the front line and a multiplication of offensives. We are talking about more than 100 battles per day.
The borders of both Kursk and Belgorod, where Ukraine is trying to enter Russian territory, have not been abandoned and are highly active, although the worst fighting is taking place in the Donbas, both on the Pokrovsk front and in Chasiv Yar. In the latter town, Chasiv Yar, from where we have so often connected to speak on these microphones, Russian troops have already entered the streets and urban fighting is being reported. The town had already been devastated by artillery fire, and when I say urban combat, I mean fighting among the rubble of what remains of Chasiv Yar. In any case, it is most likely that Russian forces will close in on the two large cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which are the last two Ukrainian strongholds remaining in the north of the Donbas.
In Donetsk, the fighting that is taking place along this entire line, from Chasiv Yar, Konstantinovka to Pokrovsk, is pushing Russian troops to the limit. There are reports of many casualties, although they are trying to set up anti-drone defences. They are even fencing off sections of road with mesh to prevent these drones from attacking military convoys as they try to reach the front line. The vehicles themselves are also being fitted with a kind of cage to prevent them from being targeted by drones, but even so, there are reports of a huge number of casualties precisely because of this offensive, which is already underway and involves both a heavy build-up of troops and a heavy build-up of these drones, which are currently setting the tone on the front line and making things very difficult for the Ukrainian army.
