On Monday, both Peskov, who said that Russia’s position remains unchanged, and Lavrov’s deputy Ryabkov, who stated that “Russia’s main task now is to convey to the U.S. that the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska set the framework within which we must operate; there is no alternative,” spoke simultaneously.In plain language, he said: “In Anchorage, we agreed that Trump would pressure Ukraine to leave the Donbas. And Putin agreed to this. Now, what’s happening is what Putin calls we were deceived."It seems this is Russia’s negotiation and communication framework ahead of Budapest, if it takes place. It’s worth noting that, in talks with Trump, this is a rather odd strategy, since it rests on the idea that Trump is “unreliable,” which clashes with the previous strategy of “don’t upset Trump at any cost.”Therefore, we can probably expect long, exhausting negotiations, with Lavrov, like a woodpecker, repeating to Rubio what the old children’s saying goes: “the first word is more valuable than the second.” Unfortunately, Rubio doesn’t know that “the first word was eaten by the cow.”But seriously, it currently looks like the Russians will try to carefully sidestep the Ukraine issue. That’s why Peskov suddenly, like a devil out of a snuffbox, brought up the Iran topic, which supposedly hasn’t been exhausted yet. Most likely, other cards will start being played soon.“Putin is afraid of sabotaging the Budapest meeting. He doesn’t want to agree to the front line as a border. So he’ll likely propose some quasi-solutions about nuclear weapons or something similar.”It’s hard to say for now how Washington will respond. On the plus side — Budapest is being prepared by Rubio, not Witkoff. Trump has no reason to go to Budapest without achieving some kind of result. Pressuring Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas is something Trump neither can nor will do.The pendulum is starting to swing. For us, it’s critically important to ensure that the American side consults with us throughout these talks with the Russians. So far, as I understand it, there are no clear agreements on such consultations.SourceAbout the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.