How to Negotiate with Moscow Based on Experience of a Ukrainian Diplomat

Roman Bezsmertny

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We are publishing this piece because Roman Bezsmertny is a Ukrainian diplomat who participated in nearly 60 rounds of talks with Russian representatives during the Minsk peace process. His experience and advice offer unique insight into Moscow’s negotiating tactics. This holds immediate implications for the ongoing efforts by Ukraine and its partners in bringing Moscow, despite its regular delays and intensified attacks on the Ukrainian population, to the negotiating table to achieve a meaningful and lasting peace agreement.

Bezsmertny is a former deputy prime minister, ambassador, election strategist, historian of Soviet ideology and modern diplomacy, and a co-author of the Constitution of Ukraine. He participated in the Minsk negotiations with Russia, survived the Russian invasion in his native village of Motyzhyn near Kyiv, and now runs a growing YouTube platform as an independent analyst and educator.

Executive Summary:Moscow views negotiations as a strategic tool in its arsenal of war to delay, deceive, and destabilize its opponents.Russia enters any future negotiations from a position of weakness as its military failures, economic strain, and international isolation leave it with no credible leverage or path to lasting gains.Meaningful negotiation with Russia requires pressure, preparedness, consistency, accountability checking in real time, and speed to define the outcomes of the talks before the Kremlin dominates the public narrative.

On July 8, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reaffirmed his country’s readiness to host the third round of talks between Ukraine and Russia. Turkish media reports that Fidan is awaiting Ukraine’s response (Shafaq News, July 8). The previous two rounds of negotiations on May 16 and June 2, facilitated by the United States, achieved some progress, including prisoner exchanges. The talks, however, did not achieve their stated goal to establish a ceasefire and move to trilateral talks to reach a just and lasting peace (see EDM, May 19 [1] [2], June 2, 5, July 7; The Kyiv Independent, July 1).