Trump's ultimatum worked: what to wait for Putin and why it is not a prologue until the end of the war
And what was it? Such a question probably arose from many people who followed the visit of Trump Streva Vitcoff to Moscow, and then Trump's reaction to this visit, and other reports around this topic. No specifics from Moscow or Washington. The White House reports that the meeting of Putin and Vitcoff has gone well, the Russian Federation seeks to continue interaction with the United States.
Trump says it was a "highly productive meeting" and that "this war should end and we will work on it in the coming days and weeks. " However, the White House also reports that "secondary sanctions against Russia are expected to be imposed on Friday. " If everything is so good, why then sanctions? After talking to Trump, President Zelensky also says hints, though slightly clearer than what we hear from Washington.
He said that Russia seems to be more tuned to the ceasefire (I understand that according to Trump - VF), but added that the main thing is that they (Russia) did not deceive us and Americans in detail. Let's try to understand and interpret all this, at least at the level of logical assumptions. Recently, there were many publications and statements in the Western media that the Kremlin would not make concessions that Putin is absolutely poffh . . It turns out that not quite poff. . g.
And Vitcoff was invited to Moscow, and some "structural signals" were sent to Washington. Obviously, Putin does not want to confront with Trump, on the contrary, he wants to keep the window of negotiation in communication with the US President. It was unacceptable for Putin to consent to Trump's ultimatum. It would be a manifestation of weakness, a clear defeat in confrontation with the US President.
The Kremlin required a counter -proposition that would be acceptable to Trump and did not look losing to Russia. What can be the content of Russian proposals? Most likely, this is the agreement to negotiate a step -by -step ceasefire. This can already be a significant step forward compared to Putin's ultimate position and a categorical refusal of Russian negotiators to discuss a ceasefire without fulfilling the requirements of the Kremlin.
But so far it is only an assumption, and even the beginning of negotiations regarding a step -by -step ceasefire, one has to agree. And to negotiate Putin wants directly with Trump. But then a meeting of three presidents - Trump, Putin and Zelensky - is planned. About it reports The New York Times. The irony of political fate is that Putin in this case realizes Zelensky's idea of negotiations of three leaders at the highest level.
Of course, it is not necessary to perceive all this as a prologue before the end of the war. From Putin, it can be another insidious maneuver - from imitation of real negotiations to trying to lure Trump into a negotiation trap to sell him a "softened" version of peace on Russian conditions, which will then be imposed on President Zelensky and Ukraine. With very high probability, Putin will require significant concessions from Ukraine in exchange for ceasefire.
And since Trump agreed that there will be no Europeans in the negotiations, it is fundamentally important for Ukraine to form in advance with Europeans (and preferably with Americans) a common negotiation position before meeting Putin. Trump's ultimatum still worked and became a catalyst for accelerating the negotiation process to complete the Russian-Ukrainian war. But this is only the first flash of changing (perhaps a deceptive) light at the end of a dangerous negotiation tunnel.