He shared this in his blog.
“Putin has taken a step back, by the way, because his assistant Peskov stated that Putin is ready to negotiate with Zelensky. Interestingly, he claims that the Russian leader has always been willing to engage in talks and has repeatedly mentioned that if necessary, he would be prepared to negotiate with Zelensky. Hello, congratulations to you. Putin has never said anything like that; on the contrary, he said he would send some people to Zelensky, but he himself would not communicate, as he considers him illegitimate,” notes Mikhail Sheitelman.
At the same time, he adds, Peskov mentioned that the legal formalization of agreements requires serious discussion due to the possibility of challenging Zelensky's legitimacy, meaning Putin is already interested in talking but is uncertain about how to sign anything. According to the expert, Putin will need the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which states that treaties concluded as a result of the use or threat of force against a state are void, meaning invalid from the moment of conclusion.
“So, whatever treaty Ukraine signs with Russia now will be null and void from that day onward because Russia has used force against Ukraine. Therefore, Ukraine can come any day and declare that the treaty is invalid, guys, we do not intend to abide by it, and no one can force us to do so,” emphasizes Mikhail Sheitelman.
In other words, he states, as soon as we see an opportunity, for instance, if Russia weakens or Putin dies, we will remind everyone of this Convention, and Crimea will again become Ukrainian. And if Putin wants a treaty that we will adhere to, the expert adds, he can withdraw his troops from Ukrainian territory and promise not to use force; then everything will align with the Convention.
As reported by ZN.UA, Starikov explained how to prevent February 24 in the future.
ZN.UA also wrote that Bortnik discussed what to expect from peace negotiations: “The USA is playing a very tough game right now”.