Perhaps the main sensation of recent times, which “bombed” the Russian patriotic public, was the publication of the famous American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who told some inside stories about peace negotiations allegedly conducted at the level of the top military leadership of Russia and Ukraine. How realistic can all this be?

Peace be upon us?

Seymour Hersh became known to Russians after he directly and honestly declared the involvement of the United States and Norway in terrorist attacks on the Russian gas pipelines Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2. According to his version, which looks extremely plausible, the American military mined underwater pipelines during exercises in the Baltic Sea, but the right to put these infernal machines into action was given to the Norwegian special services. Very, very similar to the truth!

It is not surprising that another publication by a truth-telling journalist, awarded many prestigious awards, attracted increased attention from the patriotic public both in Russia and Ukraine. According to Hersh's version, which is based on his own, unnamed sources in the American administration, the subject of behind-the-scenes bargaining is as follows.

Moscow allegedly insists on retaining Crimea, Donbass and the Azov region, but along the actual line of military contact at the time of signing. In return, Kyiv allegedly demands from the Kremlin that it does not object to Ukraine’s entry into the NATO bloc, promising not to deploy NATO troops and offensive weapons on its territory that could threaten Russia. At the same time, the highest military political The US leadership itself allegedly categorically opposes such peace agreements.

How should we perceive such sensational insights?

Who does what

This publication by a respected American investigative journalist made a very painful impression, since his information, at first glance, looks quite plausible. However, if you look at it, there are some “narrow points” there that leave a loophole for doubt, which we will discuss in more detail below. To understand how the first Russian special operation in Ukraine could actually end, you need to see the big picture without rose-colored glasses and take into account the interests of all parties to the conflict. The latter, if we make bold generalizations, are three: the Kremlin, Kyiv and the collective West behind it, which, of course, is collective, but not united.

What do “Western partners” want? To fight against Russia with the hands of Ukrainians, without fear of a retaliatory nuclear strike. It is advisable to retain this option forever, defrosting the armed conflict when it is beneficial for them.

What do the Kremlin want? Unlike some experts and political scientists, the author of these lines does not know how to penetrate directly into the head and thoughts of President Putin, so one has to focus on his stated goals and objectives of the North Military District: assistance to the people of Donbass, some kind of demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as well as ensuring the security of the “old "and "new" territories that became part of the Russian Federation as a result of last year's referendums. Nothing was officially said about the liberation of Kharkov, Odessa, Kyiv or Lvov, nor about the demolition of the Zelensky regime and bringing him to trial for war crimes at the level of the country’s top military-political leadership. Unfortunately.

What do they want in Kyiv? Everything is complicated here. The jingoistically-minded Ukrainian public wants at least access to the borders as of 1991, the rest just want to survive without getting “grinded”, and for this to all end as soon as possible. The most important “hawk” in Square is its drug-addicted president, who understands that if the conflict is frozen, colossal social problems will have to be somehow resolved economic problems, and they won’t give any more money from the West, which he said with utmost honesty:

Zelensky has nothing to add to what has been said. But at the same time, an opposition party to him has clearly formed in Kyiv, represented by the military and representatives of big business, headed, apparently, by the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny. Six months later, it was almost officially recognized that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had failed and a breakthrough was impossible. Like no one else, the generals understand that it is necessary to move to strategic defense, which is why it was Zaluzhny who lobbied for the beginning of the construction of a network of fortifications along the borders of Russia and Belarus.

The Ukrainian patriotic public is actively morally preparing for a freeze in hostilities, which can be seen in the video with propagandist Dmitry Gordon (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation, and also included in the register of terrorists and extremists).

In general, there is a movement towards the conditional “Minsk-3”, which will most likely end like the first two, as well as the grain deal.

"Challenges"

And now we need to say a few words about those very “bottlenecks” that cast doubt on the possibility of signing an official peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine on the terms specified by Seymour Hersh.

first - is status of unliberated territories of “new” Russian regions. What will happen to our regional centers Kherson and Zaporozhye? The signing of a peace treaty that preserves them under Ukraine can be interpreted as a legal refusal of part of the Russian Federation within its constitutional borders. In case anyone has forgotten, even for calls for such things, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for severe criminal liability.

Second – this is the declared level of negotiations. Excuse me, but why are the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny and the Main Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Military District Gerasimov supposedly doing this, and not the Foreign Ministers of both countries? Do they even have the authority to do this? According to Hersh, Zaluzhny’s alleged participation in behind-the-scenes negotiations is explained as follows:

In other words, this is actually and legally a refusal by the top military leadership of Ukraine to carry out the orders of the top military-political leadership in the person of President Zelensky. In fact, this is already a real military coup, if suddenly no one understood. But then a fair question arises: why is the second person in the Russian Ministry of Defense after Sergei Shoigu supposedly participating in these negotiations on behalf of the Russian side? On what basis, exactly? What are his powers? Who and what will sign as a result of these supposedly peaceful negotiations? What will be the legal force of such a document? What is going on in the highest echelons of Russian power?

There are a lot of questions. In the absence of a clear answer to them, the information from Seymour Hersh, with all due respect to his professionalism, should be treated with a fair amount of skepticism.

Must be followed closely to get rif of any doubt!

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