Another Year of WAR? /Russian UN Rep Dmitry Polyansky

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The episode features an interview with Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN responding to EU claims that Russia is not serious about peace in Ukraine. The Russian diplomat strongly rejects this, criticizing EU leadership and arguing that Russia has consistently favored diplomacy.

He claims Russia sought negotiated solutions before 2022, including proposing draft security treaties to the U.S. and NATO in late 2021 centered on halting NATO expansion and restoring “indivisible security” in Europe. He argues these efforts were dismissed, forcing Russia to act militarily to stop a conflict he says began in 2014.

According to him, early peace talks in Belarus and Istanbul in 2022 nearly produced a settlement based on Ukrainian proposals, but were derailed by Western intervention—particularly by Boris Johnson—encouraging Ukraine to keep fighting with Western support.

He maintains Russia has “never left the negotiating table,” asserts that NATO expansion is the root cause of the war, and claims NATO and EU elites now portray Russia as an enemy to justify their continued militarization.

The diplomat argues the Minsk agreements failed because Ukraine and the West would not implement them, says Russia exhausted all diplomatic options, and denies that the 2022 invasion was predetermined despite military buildups.

On current prospects for peace, he says Russia already agrees to a negotiated settlement and does not need pressure from the U.S. He instead blames President Zelensky and the Kyiv government for blocking peace, accusing Zelensky of acting in self-interest and keeping Ukraine as a geopolitical tool of the West.