Putin doesn’t bargain; he has his own scenario – Poroshenko in an interview with Politico

Petro Poroshenko stated that there is no point in counting on a positive outcome from negotiations with Putin. Poroshenko reiterated that Putin cannot be trusted, and that negotiations with him should only be conducted from a position of strength.

He said this in an interview with Politico.

“Trump believes Putin is bargaining with him and trying to get better peace terms. That’s not true. Putin doesn’t bargain. He has a completely different understanding. Putin wants to restore the Soviet Union. Putin wants to restore the Russian Empire. I have no doubt about that. Putin dreams of his place in history. And it doesn’t matter at what cost in lives—Russian lives and, of course, Ukrainian lives,” Poroshenko said.

He also noted that Putin is not interested in seizing additional land in eastern Ukraine, which his forces have failed to take and which Putin demands be handed over under any peace agreement.

According to Poroshenko, Putin is using this demand “to try to destabilize the internal political situation in Ukraine” and destroy the country’s unity, since any territorial concession would have to be put to a referendum, which would divide Ukrainians. “This is the Russian scenario. Remember, Putin is a KGB officer. He’s an expert in such things,” Poroshenko said.

Petro Poroshenko also believes excluding European allies from the negotiation process is a mistake. “Europe has every right to be at the negotiating table, since it is currently funding Ukraine. However, without Trump, without America, it is impossible to reach a peace agreement. The role of the United States is important, but without Europe, nothing will work either. They can play good cop, bad cop,” he added.