The White House will soon shift focus to the domestic issue and intends to resolve the international situation as quickly as possible
First it was 24 hours, then it was 100 days and time passed and passed for more than a year in which the United States continues to try to end a war that seems impossible to resolve.
Now, according to the agency, the Trump administration has a new deadline: the month of March was identified by North American negotiators as the ideal time to reach peace.
This is exactly what three sources familiar with the trilateral negotiations that continue to take place between the United States, Ukraine and Russia said, and who this week joined delegations in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Still, those who are aware of what happened in the long conversations understand that March is an overly ambitious goal, as there seems to be no major progress on what is the most complex topic, that of territory.
Russia wants all of Donbass and Ukraine does not accept giving up territory without the population legitimizing it. Each party has had these points well established since the beginning and, since then, little or nothing has changed.
And the scenario of a referendum is what the United States puts on the table, but not only that. Also at that time, when peace is on the verge of reaching peace, the Trump administration intends for national elections to also be held.
The North American team, led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, made this intention very clear to the Ukrainian partners at the most recent meetings in Abu Dhabi and Miami.
The best thing is that this election takes place soon, they stressed, in what is still a concession to one of Vladimir Putin’s intentions, who wants to see Volodymyr Zelensky out of power, in the hope that a pro-Russian politician can ascend to the presidency.
And the explanation for the United States’ rush is easy to understand: Donald Trump has his eyes on the November midterm elections, in which Americans will redefine Congress, which could make life in the White House easier or more difficult.
The Trump administration wants to dedicate itself to this as soon as possible, which will leave less time and space to think about other issues, particularly foreign policy.
For now, and with no better results to show, Ukraine and Russia managed to agree to exchange 314 prisoners of war, in addition to a commitment to a new meeting soon. According to Volodymyr Zelensky, this new meeting could take place in the United States.
And if it is confirmed that March is too ambitious a target for the three parties, both the United States and Ukraine are already discussing a more concrete possibility: that the presidential elections and the referendum on the territory will be held in May.
Ukraine responded to this wish that planning the election alone takes around six months, so even the month of May seems like a utopia at the moment.
Russia is watching, dragging out negotiations as best it can to continue progress on the ground.
