Ukraine peace talks wont lead anywhere.

Do the Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Davos this week mean anything?

The short answer, no.

It turned out to be more of a public relations event rather than any movement toward actual peace in Ukraine.

Some 83 countries participated which is the good news. This is more than participated in Malta, last October. More importantly though, these countries include many non-western countries. The big ones being South Africa and Brazil. Two players that have excellent relations with Russia still in place. Something that is more and more rare these days. It is reported both countries were very active within the talks.

And of course, the bad news, Russia was not invited to these talks. Big surprise, I know. Imagine trying to negotiate a peace deal with somebody who carries mass leverage against you and not even being willing to talk to them.

Its also worth mentioning China was not involved in the talks, which turns out is a huge negative to the conference. China is instrumental in a peace plan coming about in this almost two-year-old conflict. Last August, China did participate in the Jeddah peace event, hosted by the Saudis, by sending some Beijing representatives. The representatives however did not participate in the next three iterations.

Its possible the Chinese seen these events as a PR war all along so decided to play along with there very own version. However, it does not help the actual peace front. Foreign minister of Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis even says for the format to succeed in building a global alliance behind Ukrainian demands that they need China to be involved.

This is not much of a surprise as China has been at the forefront of peace negotiations lately. The growing diplomatic country brokered the historic Iran-Saudi peace deal just last year which has mostly held up. If I were a betting man, I would imagine China will be a key player in any peace deal that ever arises in Ukraine.

One key difference of these peace talks came from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. More specifically his tone. His tone indeed was different this time around asking for more sanctions rather than weapons.

For two years now we have heard the ex-comedian president ask its allies repeatedly for weapons. Tanks, javelin, HIMARS, bullets, even armor. But not this time around.

Zelensky’s only goal at this conference was to gain way on the public relations front. After all, his momentum on the actual battlefield has become stale, so this seems a good use of time for him.

Zelensky reiterates that they want as many countries to participate in this summit as possible. His caveat being the Russian elephant in the room.

When asked Zelensky said “We are open to all countries of the world that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, you can draw conclusion on whom we invite.”

He did add “We would want the countries of the global south to be present, for sure.” And “We would want China to be involved.” Something that just needs to be said aloud these days.

Here are some telling Zelensky quotes.

“It’s very important for us to show that the whole world is against Russia’s aggression and the whole world is for a just peace.”

“The one who started this war should pay the highest price for it.”

“Using the assets of Russia and its associates to defend against Russian aggression is not only effective as a punishment for the aggressor, but also quite fair.”

It seems the six-year Ukrainian president is fighting in a different way and the tone is much different from a Zelensky we knew just a short time ago, the sentiment being “We will fight to the very last Ukrainian.” This does not seem to be the case anymore.

It was reported that at the peace talks there was little pressure from other countries on Ukraine to give up its lost territory to Russia. An absolute redline Ukraine has said it cannot give up. Time will tell if this proves to be a true redline for Zelensky. Roughly one fifth of pre-invasion Ukrainian territory is held by Russia and another 67,000 square miles are contaminated with Russian mines.

What does Russia think of all this?

Russia cannot do much more then laugh at this whole Davos drama. No one in Russia can fathom that these are peace talks. Do not forget the absurd decree that Ukraine made it illegal to have any talks with Russia.

Take it from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. When asked about the discussions in Davos he responded, “This is simply talking for the sake of talking.”

“This process cannot be aimed at achieving any specific results for the obvious reason- we are not participating. Without our participation, any discussions are devoid of any prospect of any results.”

He went on to then say, “For us, it is preferable to achieve our security objectives through peaceful and diplomatic means.”

He continues. “But in the face of the impossibility of this, the unwillingness of the collective West and Ukraine to take in account our security considerations, we will continue the special military operation.”

“We will achieve our goals.”

Its safe to say there will be no peace in this conflict until a genuine effort from NATO countries begins. Russia will not budge on its security interests as it has bet its entire house on it. Ukraine can continue to pretend it wants peace but if it keeps Russia out of negotiations nothing meaningful will result.