Negotiations on Ukraine continue without Kyiv and Europe

The five-hour meeting between US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin was another chapter in a frantic diplomatic effort to end the war in Ukraine. Without a major breakthrough.

The reason was given by Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov: the two sides did not find a compromise on the territory. The Russians continue to unconditionally insist that they receive about twenty percent of the Ukrainian territory that the Russian army has occupied so far during the nearly four-year war. Ushakov admitted, however, that it is possible to discuss some American solutions, saying that "a lot of work needs to be done." The details of the negotiations are not known, the US and Russia have agreed not to make them public.

So what does the next diplomatic game played by the Americans indicate? Last weekend, a meeting took place in Florida between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov. He was supposed to say no to territorial concessions, the departure of Ukrainians from the entire Donetsk region and the demand to refuse NATO membership.

Behind the scenes, it could have been a little different. Rubio indicated to Fox News that although Ukraine does not want to give up a fifth of Donbass, it has nevertheless managed to achieve something that Ukrainians can live with. He also noted that the war cannot last forever from both sides, while Ukraine cannot be supported indefinitely. This is also a European problem, as shown by the serious problems with the approval of new financial assistance to Kiev.

However, a solution is beginning to emerge to exclude Ukraine's membership in NATO without Kyiv's formal approval. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that "On the specific issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO, I think it is perhaps important to separate principles from practice." He added that there was no consensus among the members on joining the alliance.

But the key thing is that Witkoff traveled to Moscow after the meeting in Florida. If the Americans understood that there was no chance of reaching an agreement with Moscow after negotiations with the Ukrainians, it is unlikely that the trip would take place.

It can be seen that Washington is betting more on bilateral negotiations with the Russians, leaving the Ukrainians and Europeans aside. Witkoff canceled a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels and headed straight to Washington. Rubio then did not attend Wednesday's meeting of NATO foreign ministers at the alliance's headquarters, an extremely unusual move from its most influential member.

And in addition, we learned that the agenda of the five-hour Kremlin meeting also included issues of economic cooperation between Russia and the US. This certainly did not surprise Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who laconically declared about Trump's "peace plan" that "it is not about peace, but about business."

Miloš Balabán, Právo Daily