Bloomberg reports that V. Putin’s position became clear to US envoys during their visit to Moscow on September 5. After a meeting with the Russian president that lasted more than three hours, the Kremlin stated that his position on the war in Ukraine remains “unchanged”.
V. Putin reportedly told the envoys that Russia has made “real progress” on the battlefield and is confident it will achieve its goals.
Meanwhile, S. Witkoff and J. Kushner arrived in Ukraine on Sunday for the first time since the war began. The US delegation was met at the train by the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service Rustem Umerov, and the leader of the “Servant of the People” parliamentary faction David Arakhamia.
EU doubts the purpose of the visit
The trips of S. Witkoff and J. Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv marked a new phase in the US effort to reach an agreement on the war in Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, the visit of the US envoys could give new momentum to negotiations for a possible agreement.
Aleksey Gromyko, director of the European Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the key question is whether Washington is ready to participate continuously in the negotiation process, rather than returning to it every six months.
Samuel Charap, senior political scientist at the US RAND analytical center, said that the visit of S. Witkoff and J. Kushner came at just the right time. He stated that the current escalation of the conflict is rapidly becoming uncontrollable, so without mediator intervention, Russia and Ukraine would likely continue to increase tensions.
Meanwhile, the European Union doubts the purpose of such a visit, since the US envoys first went to Moscow and only later to Kyiv.
“Diplomacy really works, so we must try to talk first with those who are our allies. Moscow has not changed its military objectives, and for us Europeans, the most important priority remains to provide Ukraine with everything it needs for its defense,” said Jovita Neliupšienė, the European Union ambassador in Washington.
What did the Kremlin say after the meeting?
On September 5, S. Witkoff and J. Kushner arrived in Moscow for talks on the war in Ukraine. They were greeted at the airport by V. Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
After the meeting with the US envoys, the Kremlin called V. Putin’s position on Ukraine “unchanged”. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that the US representatives presented “several ideas on possible ways to resolve the conflict”.
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V. Putin, in turn, stated that Russia has made “real progress” on the battlefield and is confident it will achieve its goals.
