OREANDA-NEWS. Ukraine wanted and specifically sought to have Russia recognized as a party to the conflict. This was stated by the director of the Laboratory for the Analysis of International Processes of the Institute of International Studies Nikolai Silaev, RIA Novosti reports.

“Ukraine sought to ensure that Russia was recognized as a party to the conflict, the lion's share of the efforts of Ukrainian negotiators was devoted to this. This was done in different ways, ”said the expert during a speech at MGIMO.

Thus, Ukraine put forward direct demands, allegedly declared Russia's refusal to engage in dialogue. In addition, Ukrainian representatives said that they were sitting at the negotiating table, and the Russian Federation was not listening to them, although in reality this was not the case, Silaev noted.

Earlier, the head of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, expressed the opinion that the Ukrainian regions under the control of the Russian Armed Forces could unite into a union state. He also believes that Russia needs to justify military bases for us.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky a good actor and gave him advice on running the state. Read more about this in the Public News Service article.