Negotiation composition: the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Moscow's readiness to discuss the "Trump plan"

Russia is ready to discuss the so-called "Trump plan" to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia. The diplomat clarified: it is difficult to consider the initiatives of the American side as a plan as such, but "there are approaches" from the United States and it is necessary to continue working on them. Moscow and Washington are already noting progress in the negotiation process. At the last meeting with the special envoy of the President of the United States, Steve Witkoff, the Russian leader confirmed Russia's readiness to negotiate with Kiev without preconditions. Russia comes to a potential agreement with a military victory — the Kursk region completely liberated from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which, according to experts, significantly affects the negotiating positions of the Ukrainians. Izvestia investigated the progress of the Russian-American dialogue on this issue.

Trump will postpone the end of the Ukrainian crisis for the second 100 days

Inexorably approaching the 100-day mark since the beginning of Trump's presidential term, his administration has so far failed to achieve a resolution to the Ukrainian crisis. The American leader admitted in a recent interview that plans to resolve the conflict in 24 hours were just a "figure of speech." In practice, finding a common language not only with Russia, but also with Ukraine and Europe proved to be a difficult task.

Nevertheless, last week, information appeared in the media about Trump's "plan" to resolve the situation in Ukraine, which, in particular, includes the "de jure" recognition of Crimea as Russian, the "de facto" recognition of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions as part of the Russian Federation, as well as a promise not to take Kiev has joined NATO, sanctions have been lifted since 2014, and economic cooperation with the United States.

— Russia is ready to discuss the "Trump plan". It is not a detailed plan as such, but there are approaches from the United States, and at the same time it is necessary to continue working on them. We welcome that the United States is committed to a peaceful settlement. There are positions that need to be discussed, but they should be discussed behind closed doors," Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador—at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.

Over the past three months, Russia and the United States have noticeably intensified their dialogue on the Ukrainian settlement. Two telephone conversations took place between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Special Envoy of the American president Steve Witkoff visited Moscow four times. In addition, for the first time since 2023, Russia announced a truce on the line of contact, which, however, lasted 30 hours and was sabotaged by Ukraine.

The resumption of the Black Sea initiative was also one of the items on the agenda of the Russian-American talks. Although now this topic has actually receded into the background.

— We are talking about more strategic issues. The Black Sea initiative is important, but it's only a small part of the whole problem," Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, told Izvestia, who participated in talks with U.S. representatives that took place in Riyadh on March 24.

It is worth noting that at the last meeting with Steve Witkoff, Vladimir Putin confirmed Moscow's readiness to negotiate with Kiev without preconditions. This was stated by the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov. The Kremlin spokesman added that Putin had repeatedly said this before.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in turn, said on April 27 that the week starting on April 28 would be crucial in negotiations to reach an agreement on ending the conflict in Ukraine. The politician noted that Washington will assess the progress of the parties and decide whether it wants to continue to participate in this.

Rodion Miroshnik emphasizes that the key obstacles to a peaceful settlement are Kiev and individual European countries that "do not see a place for themselves in a peaceful settlement option."

— They are too used to living in the format of an ongoing conflict. Plus, they have built an entire economy on it," the diplomat noted.

Ukraine and Europe are promoting their plan, which actually contradicts the proposals of the American side. Speaking in South Africa last week, Vladimir Zelensky said that on April 23, some amendments to the American peace plan were agreed in London, and the relevant document was sent to the White House. These "amendments" imply the absence of any restrictions for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the refusal to recognize Crimea and new territories within the Russian Federation, as well as the restoration of Ukraine, including at the expense of Russian assets.

With what military successes is Russia approaching peace negotiations

Although the intensification of the dialogue between the Russian Federation and the United States has made it possible to closely discuss the prospects for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, it is still far from a real end to hostilities. However, the news of the final liberation of the Kursk region on April 26 became a turning point in the course of the SVR. The chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, reported to Vladimir Putin on the completion of the operation on the same day.

"The adventure of the Kiev regime has completely failed, and the huge losses suffered by the enemy, including among the most combat-ready, trained and equipped, including Western models of equipment, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and these are assault units, special forces, will certainly affect the entire line of combat contact," the Russian leader said in a congratulatory speech to the personnel.

Kiev's negotiating positions have noticeably weakened after the operation to liberate the Kursk region, according to Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies.

— The completion of the operation to liberate the Kursk region from the Ukrainian Armed Forces took place at the time of Trump's meeting with Zelensky at the funeral of Pope Francis and the acute political tension surrounding negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, Kiev's negotiating position became even weaker after this event, as it lost its only bargaining chip," the expert said in an interview with Izvestia.

Now the military initiative is on the side of Russia, military expert Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia. According to him, the liberation of the Kursk region is a blow to the morale of the Ukrainian army and NATO.

— There is nothing behind the talk that Ukraine is winning in Kiev. And the army understands this. The loss of the Kursk region will affect all other areas. And we must continue these hostilities. We must liberate all territories that are written down in the Constitution of the Russian Federation within their administrative borders," he said.

In total, during the operation in the Kursk region, the Ukrainian army lost 76,000 soldiers killed and wounded. The Russian military also destroyed over 7.7 thousand units of military equipment, including 412 tanks, 340 infantry fighting vehicles, 314 armored personnel carriers and about 2.3 thousand other armored vehicles.