The Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul on May 16, 2025, revealed the growing desperation of Kyiv and the West, as Russia’s military and diplomatic position continued to strengthen.

On May 16th, 2025, American, Russian, and Ukrainian delegates met in Istanbul for Ukraine-Russia peace talks. In the run-up to the conference, the grandstanding of Ukraine’s Zelensky and other Western leaders created an undue level of tension. The result of the high-level talks only served to prove Russia’s point all along – Ukraine is just stalling for time.

Zelensky Gets Desperate

Before these talks, Volodymyr Zelensky and key European (NATO) leaders unleashed rhetoric and threats that virtually assured neither U.S. President Donald Trump nor Russia’s Vladimir Putin would attend. The whole affair began as a circus act, with the Westerners proposing a 30-day ceasefire, no one on Earth could expect the Russians to agree to. As Leonid Ragozin reported via Al Jazeera:

“The Ukrainian and European demand was designed to be rejected. Its real purpose is to derail the talks, pit Trump against Putin, and revive the longstanding strategy of trying to defeat Russia through a combination of enhanced military support for Ukraine and new economic sanctions on Moscow.”

So, only two positive results (visible at least) from the first Ukraine-Russia peace talks since 2022. First, the two countries agreed to an exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war each, which is the largest prisoner swap of the conflict. Secondly, the immutable fact that Russia’s continuous advance along a more than 1,000km front ensures that the war can only end on Russian terms. Some may recall Zelensky’s temper tantrum in front of the American public from the White House when President Trump told the puppet dictator, “You don’t have any cards.”

Conditions for Peace

In the aftermath of the meetup, Zelensky began whining about how the Russians were not serious about peace because Putin (and Trump) were not there. This was posturing again and blatantly false. Trump nor Putin guaranteed they’d show, but the delegation from Russia was made up of very expert officials who would be key to formulating and ending the deal anyhow. Before the peace talks, Donald Trump told the press, “Nothing is going to happen until Putin and I meet.”

Finally, as Russia has suggested, Zelensky’s latest round of peace talks was another charade to gain favour and position. However, with the NATO troops as a peacekeeping force off the table and the world catching up with the truth of the causes of the conflict, everyone behind the proxy war against Russia is beginning to see the whole affair was doomed from the start.

Every letter I type on this keyboard represents another inch of ground taken by Russian forces. Even the bobbing heads in Brussels no longer see any way to win militarily. The entire Ukraine ploy was based on smoke and mirrors manipulated by Western elites and their military-industrial complex. And now, Zelensky is more desperate than ever. The end is near.

Ukraine needs to seek terms now, and everyone knows it.

Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, he’s an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books. Courtesy

https://journal-neo.su/2025/05/20/istanbul-peace-talks-end-%e2%80%92-ukraine-must-seek-terms-now/