The result for Kyiv is better than I expected: Russian political scientist commented on the first talks between Ukraine and Russia

Today, on February 28, the first negotiations since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has taken place. Russian publicist, oppositionist and political scientist Andrey Piontkovsky told TSN.ua in an interview if the sides had managed to agree on something.

On the question "Judging by the mood and those dribs and drabs that were said, they have not agreed on anything," he answered: "Yes. And, in my opinion, this is a very good sign. Let's see what the parties went for. Moscow went for the capitulation of Ukraine. It was announced at all the highest levels of government. Only the formulation if this capitulation was changed: Ukraine must declare its neutral status, never join NATO, accept the annexation of Crimea, the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics etc. Kyiv went for immediate ceasefire to prevent the deaths and a mad assault of Kyiv which would have ended with mass losses. By the way, while storming Kharkiv the cruelest type of fire systems “Grad” and “Uragan” was being used. There are a lot of civilian victims. These are the requests of the sides. As a result, there is no question of capitulation. As far as I understand, if Moscow had raised this issue, it would not have received any development. The talks have not stopped the fire. But they will be continued, and their place and time have been agreed pretty concretely. This result is better for Ukraine than I expected."

According to Piontkovsky, after the talks he understood that Russia would probably understand something and would not dare to further escalation.

"Of course, it was clear to me, it was clear to everyone, it was clear to all Ukrainians that the terms of the capitulation would be rejected with indignation. And that Moscow would use it to announce about the intractability of the Ukrainian party harshly increasing its attack, particularly at Kyiv and Kharkiv. Judging by this result that there will be further talks, Russian side has not closed the door. The nearest hours are the most critical. Maybe because the mad in the bunker may act according to my script.  But I think that Medinsky did not invent this wording about the continuation of negotiations on the Polish-Belarusian border by himself but agreed it with Moscow. Moreover, I follow Russian channels all the time. They say that both parties were having video conferences with their presidents in parallel. For me this is a signal that in the bunker they may understand something, and Moscow does not dare to escalate further. The reason is also clear. With each passing hour Russia is simply becoming an outlaw for humanity on all screens of the world. And it cannot but affect the perception and minds of people in Russia, both ordinary people and elites, Putin's surrounding, and perhaps Putin himself. I don't know, maybe he has some part of his mind left. So, the worst has not happened. I mean: Ukrainians come, refuse to capitulate, the Russian delegation says: "Well, then we have nothing to talk about" - and begins to storm Kyiv and to bomb other cities. This has not happened yet. If this does not happen in the next three hours and Moscow confirms Medinsky's position at the highest level, then the Ukrainian army and Ukrainian society can be congratulated on a great victory. Then it means that Moscow is beginning to think about the way of getting out of this situation without losing face. Although, in my opinion, what is called a face was lost forever long ago," the Russian political scientist said.

Losses of Russians who fight against Ukraine:

According to the approximate data of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, from the morning of February 24 to 6:00 on February 28 the troops of the invading country have suffered the following losses:

• aircraft - 29

• helicopters - 29

• tanks - 191

• armored combat vehicles - 816

• guns - 74

• SAM "Buk" - 1

• "Grad" - 21

• automotive equipment - 291

• cisterns - 60

• UAV OTP2 - 3

• ships and boats - 2

• approximately 5300 personnel