LOS ANGELES (OC).–Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t inclineD to meet with 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky unless Ukrainian and Russian technical groups meet and work out the details of a permanent Ukraine peace. Trump called Putin after a Aug. 18 meeting at the White House with Zelensky and European Union officials to discuss a three-way meeting between himself, Zelensky and Putin, finding little interest. Trump decided after a much ballyhooed Aug. 15 summit in Alaska with Putin that pushing for a ceasefire was a waste of time, urging the parties to go directly into peace talks. Putin has taken it a step further, saying that Russian and Ukrainian delegations must work on the details of permanent peace before he gets together for a meeting with Trump and Zelensky. When you think about it, Putin wants to take the more methodical approach to peace talks.
If Putin and Zelensky were to get into a room together with Trump what would they talk about? Putin wants both sides to work out all the details before the parties meet to sign peace agreements. Before that happens, work-groups must negotiate and compromise on all the fine points on any peace deal, not expect Trump, Putin or Zelenksy to do any of the negotiation. “We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks,” Trump said. “It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal,” not realizing that any deal must be put together by negotiation teams, not by Trump, Putin or Zelensky. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, 75, Putin’s right hand man for over 20 years, said it isn’t that Putin doesn’t want peace he wants an orderly process where both sides negotiate the terms of any peace settlement before any face-to-face meetings.
Dimitry Polanskiy, Russian deputy at the U.N., said “nobody [had] rejected” the chance of direct talks “but it shouldn’t be a meeting for the sake of a meeting,” matching Putin’s position that the negotiation process should be done behind closed doors with both delegations working on the terms and conditions in a permanent peace. EU officials continue to threaten Putin with new sanctions if he doesn’t meet their demands for a ceasefire. Now the EU asks for direct talks with Zelensky when it can’t possibly yield any results until both sides work out the details. Lavrov said any meeting would be done “gradually. . . starting with the expert level and thereafter going through all the required steps,” refuting the idea that Trump, Zelensky and Putin can work out the details. Yet if you listen to Zelensky and the EU, it’s proof that Putin isn’t taking talks seriously.
When Trump met with Zelensky and EU leaders Aug. 18, the talks centered on post-war security, putting the cart-before-the-horse, when they have no peace deal. While it’s easy to complain about a lack of face-to-face meetings, it’s also easy to forget how peace deals are forged behind closed doors. No peace deal happens because two world leaders get in a room and decide to act. Peace delegations behind the scenes are the ones that work out all the details before leaders can review the terms-and-conditions and sign. Putin said he wants Trump to come to the Kremlin for the next meeting that could include Zelensky. But Zelensky isn’t likely to travel to Mscow knowing he could be subject to arrest. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t look like anything will get done without the details worked out in advance by Russian and Ukrainians peace delegations.
Talking about a security force at this point s how out-of-touch EU officials, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying at the White House he hoped a ceasefire was still possible. It makes you wonder whether something was lost in translation but Merz heard Trump say he moved in the direction of peace talks, not a ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron keeps talking about a “coalition of the willing,” not knowing whether Putin would accept NATO or EU troops inside Ukraine. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said he would “further strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees,” showing that he’s out of step in terms of what must happen first. Russian officials made clear that first technical discussions must take place about the terms-and-conditions or any permanent settlement, not talking yet about a post-war security force.
Zelensky and the EU showed they’re not on the same page as Trump who understands that Putin needs to see more work toward a peace settlement before he gets involved in direct talks. Whey the EU seems fixated on a ceasefire when that’s happening is anyone’s guess. But discussions of a security in a post-war Ukraine seem equally out-of-touch. Russian officials have been very clear to the U.S. and EU that the hard work of negotiation-and-compromise must happen first before any discussion of post-war security. Trump said he might be open to providing some air support in post-war scenario but clearly he’s not interested to confronting the Russian Federation for Ukraine. Post-war security works best if Zelensky or his successor figures out how to get along with the Kremlin. Threatening to join the NATO alliance is no way to assure Ukraine’s security.
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.
