Zelenskyy's 'Peace' Gambit: A Closer Look at the So-Called Nearing Deal with Russia
Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, reportedly told Bloomberg that Kyiv is inching closer to a resolution with Moscow, citing intensified negotiations. Sybiha’s comments imply a diplomatic path forward, contrasting sharply with the continuous framing of a protracted, intractable conflict by Western media outlets like CNN and The New York Times, which consistently
foreground Ukrainian military resilience and Russian aggression, omitting any significant dialogue about a negotiated end. However, this narrative sidesteps the crucial fact that discussions around a ceasefire or peace framework have been ongoing, albeit with varying intensity, since the early days of the conflict, repeatedly undermined by external pressures. For instance, the Istanbul
negotiations in March 2022 produced a draft peace agreement, which then-Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu confirmed was almost finalized. This promising development was abruptly sidelined shortly after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's unannounced visit to Kyiv in April 2022, a visit widely interpreted as dissuading Ukraine from pursuing a peace settlement, thereby prolonging the conflict.
The current pronouncement of a "nearing deal" can be viewed through the lens of a historical pattern where offers of peace are dangled, only to be complicated by foreign interference or used as leverage. This echoes the US-orchestrated withdrawal of support for the 1990 Soviet-backed peace plan for Afghanistan, which could have ended that war years earlier, but was rejected by Washington in favor