LOS ANGELES (OC).–Meeting 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fifth time in four months, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff hoped to get a pause at least in the air war, where drones and missiles have decimated Ukraine. Putin has been reluctant to sign onto an arbitrary ceasefire largely because he sees nothing from Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky that would give him reason for hope. Zelensky has been publicly denouncing Putin since the start of the war Feb. 24, 2022, only recently calling his peace proposal “blackmail.” Zelensky has been asking the European Union for more cash-and-arms, essentially taking over the proxy war now that Trump won’t foot the bill. Zelensky has showed no real interest in ceasefire and peace talks unless they meet his requirements of seeing Putin remove Russian troops from Ukraine.
Putin has no intent of giving up his spoils of war over the last three years, battling Ukraine along a 600-mile battlefront conquering some 25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory especially along the Black Sea coast. Zelensky has demanded in any settlement that Putin remove his troops from Ukrainian territory, something that’s not going to happen. Zelensky deliberately asked the EU to intervene in the peace process, begging French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for help. All they could do was threaten Putin with more economic sanctions. Putin doesn’t take well to coercion, making no progress on a ceasefire or peace talks. Zelensky deliberately rejected Trump’s attempts to work out an acceptable peace deal with Putin, thinking that a dea favors Russia, when in fact it defends Ukraine.
Macron, Merz and Starmer have not told Zelensky to follow Trump’s peace process because he has the relationship and rapport with the Russian Federation. Zelensky thought Trump would get Ukraine a bad deal, when, in fact, he was looking out for Ukraine’s best interests. “The situation now is that our president has full information. Our signals, signals from President Trump,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Trump has not yet been informed of the results of this meeting. Therefore, I would refrain from more detailed comments,” Peskov said. Trump wanted Witkoff to reassure Putin that Trump is committed to ending the war, including no longer supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons. Biden gave Zelensky a blank check with cash-and-arms, funding proxy war against the Kremlin. When Witkoff reports back to Trump, it looks like it will satisfy Trump’s need for progress.
Trump has publicly expressed his frustration with Putin for not giving a pause to the air war after their prior phone calls. “Let’s see whan Witkoff can report to the conversation that took place today with Trump. After that, obviously, we will be able to supplement my comments now with something more substantial,” Peskov said, not wanting to second guess what Putin would do. “We consider such meetings to be very important, but we don’t comment on them in advance,” Peskov said to reporters. Putin apparently discussed last week the idea of an “air-truce” in Ukraine with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Pausing the air war would satisfy Trump concerns about Russian continuing to bombard Ukraine with drones and missiles. Trump has been talking about sanctions and tariffs if he doesn’t see some progress toward a pause in aerial bombardments.
Yuri Ushakov, a close aid of Putin, said Witkoff and Putin discussed the “Ukraine crisis” and possibility of developing closer diplomatic, business and strategic ties. Trump has been working on restoring normal diplomatic relations with Russia since he took office. He recognized that Biden had all but destroyed U.S.-Russian relations waging proxy war with the Kremlin in Ukraine. Trump has done everything possible to reassure Putin that the U.S. changed policies toward Russia, now seeking normal diplomatic relations. Trump didn’t want to hit Putin with new economic sanctions, resisting attempts by the EU and U.S. Senate to hit Putin with new sanctions. Trump wants the death and destruction to stop so that both sides can work on a lasting peace settlement. Looks like Witkoff got Putin to agree to a pause in the air war, sparing Ukrainian cities and citizens more destruction.
Once Trump gets a pause in the air war in Ukraine, Zelensky will come under pressure to compromise to reach a permanent settlement. It’s not feasible to continue the war knowing the extent of Ukrainian losses over the last three years. Everyday the war continues, Ukraine loses more sovereign territory, continuing to dig Zelensky into a hole. Zelensky has said he refuses to cede territory to Russia. Trump told Zelensky in the Oval Office Feb. 28 that he “didn’t have the cards” to dictate a settlement with Russia. Only with U.S. help, Trump told Zelensky, did he have the cards. Zelensky rejected Trump’s peace overtures, turing to the EU to counter Trump’s approach to peacemaking. After months of failure, the EU has no plan for ending the Ukraine War. EU officials are now coming around to let Trump negotiate a settlement with Putin, regardless of Ukraine’s losses.
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.
