His ultimatums about her all suffered the same fate: they paled in the face of reality. The most recent, the one given to Kiev last week, required the Ukrainians to accept by today (27/11) a peace plan “defiantly favorable” to Moscow, as French Monde described it. But as things have developed in recent days, and as Trump himself stated, “there is no deadline.”
As Ukraine and European countries attempt to temper the plan with maximalist Russian demands, Moscow is stalling and Trump appears to be closing the door, at least for now, on the Ukrainian president. Thus, recent efforts to reach an agreement seem to run up against the same stubborn reality: the red lines of Kiev and Moscow remain diametrically opposed.
The leaked conversations
A new factor has also emerged, which, although it remains to be seen whether and to what extent it will affect the outcome of the negotiations, largely explains the content of the original peace plan: the disclosure by Bloomberg of conversations in which US special envoy Steve Witkoff advised, among others, the Russian side, and in particular Yuri Usakov, foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, on how best to present the Russian position on the war to Trump, offering advice that sabotaged Zelensky’s efforts.
When the plan was leaked to the media last week, it was so heavily biased in favor of Russian positions that many analysts, but even Republican lawmakers, hinted that the draft came from Moscow — possibly from another Russian adviser, Kirill Dmitriev, a close confidant of Putin, who met with Witkov in Miami in late October.
The Bloomberg leak in which they discuss what demands will be included in the peace talks.
The continuation of parallel negotiations
The next steps seem to be postponed until next week, when the tactic of parallel negotiations will continue. According to Trump, Witkoff (whom the US president has backed since the talks leaked) will travel to Moscow to meet with Putin, possibly accompanied by his business partner Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. At the same time, US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll – a new key figure in the negotiations – is expected to meet with Ukrainian representatives.
Of course, Russia’s stance raises some doubts, as it has not confirmed a date for the meeting, with Ushakov – Witkov’s interlocutor in the disputed talks – saying there is only “a preliminary agreement” on the meeting, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that nothing has yet been finalized about this possible visit.
Trump’s decision to send Witkov to Moscow — the “American adviser who … advises Russia,” as Sky News put it — leaves room for the Kremlin to reject newer versions of the plan, but also to reach out to Trump before Kiev. This is important, as Moscow has made it clear that it does not agree to changes to the plan or to possible European influence and does not intend to make “concessions”. Russian officials said on Wednesday that any peace deal “remains a long way off”.
No meeting for Zelensky
At the same time, Trump himself also seems to be taking – again – a step back in the negotiations. In addition to having “distributed responsibilities” to his envoys, who are expected to undertake the settlement of crucial details of the agreement, he categorically ruled out, at least for now, the much-desired meeting with Zelensky for Kiev. This is of great concern to the Ukrainians, who are seeking to finalize the rest of the peace deal directly with the US president.
