A delegation of US diplomats arrived in Moscow on Thursday morning to discuss agreeing to a ceasefire in the Ukrainian War, followed by a call between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin.
American Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkov flew to Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Thursday morning and traveled from Doha, Qatar via European outer space on a Gulfstream executive jet. Witkov and his negotiator team are in the Russian capital and are trying to break the proposed agreement on a 30-day ceasefire for the Ukrainian War.
At this point, Russia is relatively cautious about the ceasefire, and in principle only after an agreement has been reached by the US and Ukraine, it is said that they will wait to study the details from Washington before further commenting. The two countries agreed to work towards peace in talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. This is the decision that the Trump administration has resumed military and intelligence news support to the Kiev government.
The Kremlin has not stated anyone representing the Russian side in today's negotiations, but Witkov and the US delegation can speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It has also been suggested that a call between President Trump and Putin could be made later today, but it has not been confirmed.
Prior to the talks, a Putin spokesman said the president may make an official statement in Ukraine later that day, but his main business on Thursday was to meet with the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, the de facto Soviet dictator who has supported Russia's Ukrainian invasion since its inception. Lukashenko also flew to Moscow on Thursday and landed at the same airport as Witkov.
Meanwhile, Russia has said it continues to regain its own territory with Kursk Oblast from Ukrainian counter invasions. Media from the Western Intelligence Reporting Agency say that Ukrainian forces have withdrawn in large numbers to avoid being completely surrounded and massacre, and Russian state media claims that most of what was once held has now been recaptured.
Russian President Putin visited the region on Wednesday, wearing military fatigue rather than his distinctive suit, where he ordered the troops to take the region completely “as soon as possible.”
On Wednesday, the US said it was peace and Ball was in Russian court, and the White House urged Moscow to sign. “This was the closest we could ever be in this war to peace,” Trump's executive director-general Caroline Leavitt said. President Trump warns that if Russia refuses to go with his plans, Russia will have consequences.
Russia is likely to require the large Swas in eastern Ukraine to be recognized as fully Russian territory, including Crimea, Donetsk, Carson, Luhansk and Zaporidia. To embrace such demand is very fundamental outside the worldview of players like Ukraine and the European Union, and we would agree that lasting peace is very likely to be very secretive given the level of disconnection between the two sides on fundamental issues such as negligence in war crimes, ownership of territory, and future reconciliation of international relations.
