Trump's envoys return home with no results. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the American president, after Moscow they also left Kiev without having brought anything home: peace remains a mirage.
“Everyone will have to make compromises,” Witkoff stated after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who instead aims for "a dignified peace" and reiterates the Patriots and the aid that Kiev will need to get through the winter if the war were to continue, "and so far it seems so." The main reason for the stalemate remains thea territorial question, which according to Zelensky can be solved "only at the level of presidents". So much so that according to the Kyiv Independent, President Donald Trump will have a telephone conversation today with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and President Zelensky.
The US peace plan
Witkoff and Jared Kushner presented in Kiev new “more effective” proposals aimed at ending the war with Russia, he told theAfp a senior official of the Ukrainian presidency.
The peace plan devised by the Americans would include recognition by Ukraine, of Crimea and Donbass as Russian territories. This has been revealed by some Russian and Ukrainian media. According to rumors, Kiev is expected to withdraw its troops from Donbass and that a buffer zone under UN control will be created. Russia, for its part, will commit to do not deploy troops in the region. According to rumours, the plan would also include a limitation of the workforce of Ukrainian Armed Forces at 60.
Not only that, Kiev will have to call new elections within 100 days from the signing of the agreement and reform its Constitution to include a renunciation of NATO membership and other military alliances. Additionally, Ukraine will have to renounce the reclamation of territories annexed by Russia through the use of military force. Finally, the document provides for the signing of a peace treaty by the new Ukrainian government, with subsequent ratification through a special procedure within the UN. There is no official confirmation of the content of this plan, which, on paper, would be highly detrimental to Ukraine.
Zelensky's response
“The territorial question remains relevant. I think that such complex issues can be resolved only at leader level. "But the main thing is that today we have the opportunity to discuss everything: security guarantees, Ukraine's future, and the prosperity plan. We are talking not only about security guarantees, but also about economic guarantees for Ukraine – to rebuild and recover," Zelensky wrote on X after the meeting with Witkoff Kushner. "We all understand the challenges that await us once the war is over," he continued, "and we are discussing them among ourselves. Our army must be strong, and for us this is a key security guarantee. The guarantees must be strong and clear. We must not fear any future challenges. It is also It is important that European colleagues have come together to us for the third part of our negotiations. We have agreed that Ukraine, Europe, and the United States will meet shortly."
“We count on the support of our European partners if the war drags on until winter, as it currently appears to be,” the Ukrainian president declared at a press conference on Sunday evening, following the talks.
Moscow: "There are no conditions for dialogue with the US." Witkoff: "Compromises are needed."
From Russia comes the comment of Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, according to which at the moment there are no conditions for establishing a serious dialogue between Russia and the United States regarding the stabilization of the situation in Europe. Zakharova then added that the deployment of US missile systems in Norway and other European countries complicates attempts at dialogue.
For his part, Steve Witkoff, who had previously spoken of "very significant" talks, said that Moscow and Kiev will have to compromise to find a way out of the four-and-a-half-year-long war.
