LOS ANGELES.–When President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg for four hours, it signaled a thaw in U.S.-Russian relations. Putin doesn’t meet with anyone unless it’s about necessary government business. Witkoff was there to talk about a ceasefire and peace talks to end the Ukraine War. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talks with Putin were very constructive, especially on restoring normal diplomatic relations with the United States. Peskov also said resolving the war was more complicated because the Zelensky’s refusal to go along with any coherent peace plan but interference from the European Union who just gave Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky another $21 billion euros to continue prosecuting the war. So, ending the war just go more complicated.
Peskov told Witkoff that things are going “very well” but making decisions on ending the three-year-old conflict required broader cooperation from the EU and certainly from Ukraine. “Everything is going very well,” Peskov said. “But, of course, it is impossible to expect any instant results,” citing the damage done by Biden over the previous four years. Peskov said the two powers were “walking along this path together very patiently” but restoring damage relations takes time. Putin is very aware that the EU has taken a very different tact to the Ukraine War, essentially backing Ukraine’s decision to get back all its land lost during over four years of war. Putin recognizes that Trump wants the war to end but knows that he’s dealing now not with just the U.S. but the EU and Ukraine. Zelensky has turned to the EU to take over funding the conflict.
German’s 69-year-old incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz continues to hamper peace efforts by hinting that Germany may be willing to give Ukraine Taurus long-range missiles, something that would escalate the conflict not end it. Merz’s predecessor, 65-year-old Chancellor Olaf Schoz, refused to give Ukraine Taurus missiles precisely because it could escalate the conflict. Whether Merz is just posturing, remaining ambiguous on Taurus missiles to get Putin to make concessions in any future peace talks is anyone’s guess. Zelensky has unrealistic ideas how Russia must settle the war, especially to remove all its troops from Ukraine. Since Feb. 24, 2022, Russia and Ukraine have been in a pitched battle over the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine, where Russian speaking communites in Donetsk and Luhansk have tried to break off ties with the Kiev government.
Zelensky points to ongoing attacks against Ukraine to prove to his EU allies that Putin doesn’t really want peace. But without a ceasefire deal or any peace talks over course the war goes on just as it has before. Putin has not yet entered into any agreement to end the war despite prodding from 78-year-old President Donald Trump. Trump means business that he wants the war to end but he has a real problem with Zelensky and the EU. Zelensky has convinced the EU, just like Biden before him, that Putin has his eyes set on more EU countries, possibly Poland and the Baltic States. Putin has never said anything about seeking to expand his borders, only that he had to take a stand with Biden arming Ukraine to the teeth on the Russian border. Biden refused to discuss before the Feb. 24, 2022 war new security arrangements for Ukraine, without the U.S. sending unlimited cash-and-arms to Kiev.
Trump and Witkoff recognize at this point it’s not Putin that’s the main obstacle to peace in Ukraine. Zelensky made it clear that he no longer considers the U.S. and ally in his war with the Kremlin. He was flabbergasted by Trump restoring normal diplomatic relations with his arch enemy, Russia. Zelensky had no problem accepting billions in U.S. cash-and-arms as long as Biden saw Russia as his enemy too. Things are different with Trump now that he’s committed to reestablish normal diplomatic ties with Russia. Zelensky thinks he can run U.S. foreign policy keeping the U.S. and Russia enemies when, clearly, they have too many common global interests to not have pragmatic diplomatic relations. When it comes to Ukraine, Zelensky fears if he agrees to peace, he would have to give up too much sovereign territory and could be chased out of Kiev by an angry mob.
Peskov said the time was not yet right for Putin and Trump to meet for a summit because Zelensky and the EU have mucked up the peace process. As long as Zelensky refuses to enter any kind of peace process, he’s tied Trump’s hands on getting a peace deal. Trump can’t hold Putin responsible for why it’s taking longer than expected to reach a ceasefire and peace deal when Zelensky continues to battle the Kremlin. Zelensky knows that if he admits defeat to Putin, he will be chased out Kiev. So, to keep his fragile government alive, he has to pretend the war is still going to get his lost sovereign land back. Any realistic peace formula knows that Zelensky would have to trade land-for-peace because Putin will not return spoils of the over three years of war. Trump has done everything possible to fulfill his campaign promise, it’s just taking more patience and time.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
