In fact, according to Posten, some of those involved in the talks, which were to be hosted and mediated by the Qataris, had hoped that an agreement on the limited scope of infrastructure would lead to a more comprehensive agreement.
While a diplomatic source close to the talks told the Post that the Russians were only delaying the talks and not cutting them off entirely, Russian officials subsequently dismissed the whole idea in the Post’s history.
“No one broke anything because there was nothing to break,” said Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry. told Reuters. “There have been no direct or indirect negotiations between Russia and the Kyiv regime on the security of civilian critical infrastructure facilities.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said the talks would still take place, rather than via video conference, on Thursday. Regardless, the Post reported that Ukrainians never thought the prospects of reaching an agreement were that favorable, even without the Kursk incursion.
Whether the Kursk incursion itself has the potential to give Ukraine leverage in any future negotiations, says Quincy Institute’s George Beebe wrote on RS this week that so far seems unlikely.
“If Ukraine had managed to capture the Kursk nuclear power plant, one of the largest in Russia, its bargaining power over the Kremlin could have grown quite significantly,” he said. “The Russian military would have been hard-pressed to dislodge forces holding the facility without damaging or destroying the facility, and Ukrainian occupiers could have exercised the threat of releasing radiation as leverage over Putin’s demands in any negotiations.”
While the Kursk nuclear power plant is within range of Ukrainian artillery, a fact that has the International Atomic Energy Agency very worriedultimately, Beebe notes, “Ukrainian forces are far from achieving this goal and have little prospect of achieving it now that Russia has mobilized forces defending the facility.”
In other Diplomacy Watch headlines this week:
— A dispute between German and Polish officials has arisen in the wake of news that a German investigation found that a team of Ukrainians blew up the Nord Stream gas pipeline in September 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal. Officials from each country blame the other for letting one of the suspected perpetrators escape Poland before an arrest could be made, prompting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to lash out at the Germans. “All you have to do today about it is apologize and shut up,” he said.
— The military juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are asks The UN Security Council condemns Ukraine for allegedly providing aid to regional rebel groups. according to Reuters. The groups, which have ties to terrorist organizations such as local al-Qaida affiliates, killed nearly 200 Malian troops and mercenaries from Wagner, a Russian-backed private military group. The junta in Mali subsequently severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, which denies it supported the rebel groups.
— During a visit to Poland this week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Russia and Ukraine to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict and pledged India’s support. “We support dialogue and diplomatic efforts” to restore peace and stability “as soon as possible,” Modi said, according to the report Associated Press.
“I am very pleased that the Prime Minister has confirmed that he is prepared to personally engage in bringing about a peaceful, just and swift end to the war,” Tusk said.