This was already reported on earlier by Israeli mediator Naftali Bennett, but the Ukrainian diplomat confirmed it. — Tzeentch
Former Israeli prime minister rebuts claim, boosted by Russia, that the US blocked a Ukraine peace agreement: 'It's unsure there was any deal to be made'
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett discussed his efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Pro-Russia commentators have focused on his saying that a peace deal was "blocked" by the West.
But Bennett has clarified that no such deal existed — and said talks broke down because of apparent Russian war crimes.
...
The next exchange is what went viral. The interview, conducted in Hebrew, includes English subtitles on YouTube. According to that translation, the interviewer asked Bennett: "So they blocked it?"
"Basically, yes, they blocked [it] and I thought they were wrong," Bennett responded.
The English subtitles are flawed, however. In the exchange, Bennett and the interviewer do not use the word "blocked" but rather "stopped," referring to ongoing peace talks, not an agreement.
"I can't say if they were wrong," Bennett added.
...
In the interview, Bennett himself notes that it was not the US, France, or Germany that put an end to any peace talks. Rather, it was Russia slaughtering hundreds of civilians in a town outside the Ukrainian capital, a war crime discovered just about a month after the full-scale invasion began.
Well I can't wait for the cognitive dissonance freakout here on this thread when Harris-Walz wins (possibly declared as soon as next Wednesday night). — 180 Proof
However, Ukrainian diplomat Alexander Chaly who was part of the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul gave a first-hand account that confirmed Bennett's initial statements. — Tzeentch
ALEXANDER CHALY: We negotiate with Russian delegation practically two months, in March and April the possible peaceful settlement agreement ... between Ukraine and Russia. And we, as you remember, concluded so called Istanbul communique. And we were very close in the middle of April, in the end of April to finalize our war with some peaceful settlement. For some reasons it was postponed.
To the Ukrainians’ dismay, there was a crucial departure from what Ukrainian negotiators said was discussed in Istanbul. Russia inserted a clause saying that all guarantor states, including Russia, had to approve the response if Ukraine were attacked. In effect, Moscow could invade Ukraine again and then veto any military intervention on Ukraine’s behalf — a seemingly absurd condition that Kyiv quickly identified as a dealbreaker.
With that change, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team said, “we had no interest in continuing the talks.”
Bennett's comments were obviously highly controversial, which is probably why he was pressured to backtrack on them. — Tzeentch
:smirk:There would only be a freakout if your prediction of Harris winning the popular voteby nine points or soand ablue tsunami carrying her to a landslide[blowout] victory is correct. That's not going to happen though. — Baden
Consider this recent article on how easily "betting markets" are manipulated ...
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/dont-trust-the-political-prediction-markets — 180 Proof
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