a Crimean Tartar born in Uzbekistan (USSR), Umerov has no previous military background. But he is trusted by Zelensky and is acceptable to the Americans.
What
distinguishes Umerov is that he was a key negotiator at the peace talks
with Russia in Istanbul last year in March, which actually resulted in
an agreed document (from which Zelensky subsequently retracted under
Anglo-American pressure.) Again, he was instrumental in negotiating the
Black Sea Grain Initiative (so-called grain deal between Ukraine and
Russia) which became operational in July last year at Istanbul. These
are straws in the wind that must be duly noted.
2. An article published by TASS yesterday , in which Zaporozhye Region Acting Governor Yevgeny Balitsky (a Kremlin appointee) called, seemingly out of the blue, for "a neutral platform where the two countries [Russia and Ukraine] can negotiate pragmatic solutions to mutual issues, including prisoner swaps, which would work even as the special military operation continues....
MKB continued:
Balitsky was responding to a pointed question from TASS about the current possibility of Russia-Ukraine talks. He went on to state that:
“There should be a negotiating platform somewhere — at the level of foreign ministries, at the level of other mediating countries. People are needed who are, unfortunately, disengaged from the situation. They are able to tackle the issue in an objective and pragmatic way, however, there should be a table somewhere where authorised representatives would interact. This will allow [POW] swap issues to be resolved, or, for example, the issue of a moratorium on shelling nuclear power plants. This will benefit everyone, even in war time, no matter how cynical this sounds.
“So, in any case there should be some kind of platform. It could launch the beginning of more extensive talks. And something could grow from this as a result. And, perhaps, we would be able to resolve the task set forth by the president peacefully.”
Balitsky is a seasoned Ukrainian politician from Melitopol hailing from a military family who served in the Soviet army and had two terms in the Ukrainian parliament since he entered politics in 2004. No doubt, he spoke on instructions from the Kremlin.
By
the way, Putin met Balitsky at the Kremlin two weeks ago. Balitsky’s
doctored remarks were carefully timed, and Blinken and his Ukrainian
hosts wouldn’t have missed the message that Moscow is open to
negotiations.