Kremlin does not expect breakthrough from visit by Trump’s envoys, – Bloomberg
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to arrive in Moscow on 5 September and, following talks with the Russian side, travel on to Kyiv. The Kremlin does not expect any agreements to be reached on ending the war.
According to Censor.NET, this is reported by Bloomberg.
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US President Donald Trump’s envoys, Witkoff and Kushner, are due to arrive in Moscow on Saturday, 5 September. According to Trump, the American representatives will present the Russian side with a proposal to end the war against Ukraine.
At the same time, Bloomberg sources close to the Kremlin are extremely pessimistic about the prospects for the talks. They say that Witkoff and Kushner’s previous visits to Russia yielded no tangible results, and that Moscow does not expect to receive any proposals this time that it would consider acceptable.
Putin is not prepared to back down on key demands
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin remains, as before, prepared to discuss ending the war only on Moscow’s terms. At the same time, the Russian side is formulating its demands in increasingly harsh terms, believing it holds the upper hand on the battlefield.
The territorial issue remains one of the main obstacles to reaching an agreement. Putin has shown no willingness to drop his demand for the entire Donetsk region as part of a potential peace deal. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected this demand.
Maria Snegova, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, noted that the Russian leader shows no willingness to soften the Kremlin’s key demands.
According to her, Putin may also believe that Ukraine’s defences are weakening, whilst Moscow’s stance in its relations with the White House has hardened.
Trump did not disclose the details of the US proposal
On Friday, 4 September, Trump confirmed that his representatives would be visiting Russia. Responding to questions from journalists, he stated that Witkoff and Kushner would "bring a proposal to end the war".
At the same time, the US president did not disclose any details of the document or the possible conditions that his representatives would be discussing with the Kremlin.
It also remains unclear whether the US initiative contains new proposals capable of breaking the deadlock in the negotiation process.
After Moscow, the US envoys may travel to Kyiv
It is expected that following the talks in Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner will travel to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated that their visit to Kyiv could take place on Sunday, 6 September.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine is keen to ensure the talks are as constructive and substantive as possible.
He also stated that Kyiv would not carry out any air strikes during the period required for the American representatives’ stay in Ukraine, and expects a similar move from Russia.
Talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia have reached an impasse
A possible visit by Witkoff and Kushner to Kyiv would be their first trip to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. It may signal an attempt by Washington to resume diplomatic efforts to reach a peace agreement.
However, the previous round of talks failed to produce the expected outcome. In February, negotiations involving the US effectively reached an impasse, after which the Trump administration’s focus shifted largely to the war with Iran.
Back in December last year, Zelenskyy stated that the peace plan was approximately 90 per cent agreed. Since then, the parties have been unable to bridge key differences.
Ukraine, meanwhile, insists on receiving reliable security guarantees to
a new Russian attack once hostilities have ended.
Russia is intensifying its strikes, whilst Ukraine is stepping up attacks deep into Russian territory
Against a backdrop of stalled diplomatic progress, Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. According to Bloomberg, Moscow effectively assumes that the previous framework for a peace agreement is no longer viable.
At the same time, Ukraine has stepped up strikes on targets within Russian territory. Among the targets are oil refineries, defence factories and warehouses belonging to the major e-commerce companies Wildberries and Ozon.
These attacks, the agency notes, have caused fuel shortages in certain regions of Russia and inflicted significant damage on the logistics infrastructure.
A previous meeting with Putin also failed to yield results
Vitkoff and Kushner last visited Moscow in January. At that time, they held talks with Putin regarding a 20-point peace plan.
Following the meeting, the Kremlin stated that the territorial issue remained unresolved. Moscow also made it clear that it saw no prospect of a long-term settlement until Russia’s demands were met.
Meanwhile, European states have taken a back seat in the negotiation process, although they continue to provide military and financial support to Ukraine
