Peaceful gravity: Russia is ready to work with Ukraine on a future treaty

Russia is ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum on a future peace agreement, Vladimir Putin said. Upon reaching an agreement, the document may include a cease-fire. On May 19, the Russian president had his third telephone conversation with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, which lasted more than two hours. The Russian President also thanked the US President for participating in the resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine. Trump has already announced the imminent start of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on a cease-fire. At the same time, Washington is ready to increase sanctions pressure on Moscow in case of their failure. How the Ukrainian settlement is progressing and what the White House said after a telephone conversation with Moscow is in the Izvestia article.

What did Putin and Trump talk about for the third time?

As practice has shown, a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is always followed by concrete decisions. So, the first call, on February 12, generally launched a dialogue on the topic of the Ukrainian settlement. The second contact took place on March 18, when the leaders of the Russian Federation and the United States agreed to immediately begin negotiations on resolving the crisis, agreeing on a 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure, the exchange of prisoners and the transfer of the wounded. Vladimir Putin called the third conversation, which took place on May 19, informative, frank and very useful. This time, the Russian side agreed to start working on a future peace agreement.

— Russia stands for a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We just have to identify the most effective ways to move towards peace. We have agreed with the President of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace treaty defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement, and so on, including a possible ceasefire for a certain time if appropriate agreements are reached.- the President of the Russian Federation said after the phone call.

Donald Trump also made a statement following the conversation: Russia and Ukraine will soon begin negotiations on a cease-fire and conflict, and the Vatican can accept them.

Despite the fact that this is the third conversation between the presidents, it is no coincidence that it was expected with particular excitement, because it took place almost immediately after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kiev in three years. By the way, Vladimir Putin thanked his American counterpart for the US participation in their resumption.

Trump's position is neutral, and he is really dealing with settlement issues, and the position of European politicians is openly pro-Ukrainian, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, told reporters. According to him, real mediation is possible only for the side that occupies the same distance from the parties to the conflict.

In the foreign media, this phone call was called a potentially turning point in the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. For example, The New York Times emphasized the high importance and special attention of the world community. Sky News reported that Donald Trump was optimistic, but Kiev was anxiously awaiting the outcome of the conversation.

Of course, the key moment in the Ukrainian settlement will be a personal meeting between Putin and Trump, which has been preparing for months. The other day, the head of the White House eloquently stated that "Nothing will happen until Putin and I meet." It is clear that Trump considers his personal negotiating skills crucial to breaking the deadlock.

— He often positions himself as a unique mediator, able to overcome differences that others cannot, believing that his personal relationship with Putin gives him a decisive advantage over others. Moreover, given the start of direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, Washington will prefer to wait for their results and only then make its final decision," Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies, told Izvestia.

Apparently, the meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States will not be long in coming. As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted, it needs to be well prepared, and its timing should be set by the leaders themselves.

How is the Ukrainian settlement progressing

Shortly before the conversation with Putin, Trump spoke with Zelensky. It is worth noting that at the moment the Ukrainian settlement has taken on a new important turn: a direct dialogue between Moscow and Kiev. Even before the conversation between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States, Zelensky instructed to form a "permanent expanded national negotiating group" with Russia. He announced this following a meeting with the head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul.

On May 16, the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in three years took place there. Moreover, the US delegation also arrived there that day. With the mediation of representatives of Ankara and Washington, represented by the Foreign Ministers Hakan Fidan and Marco Rubio, a meeting was first held in the US—Ukraine—Turkey format. Then the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations started. Formally, the delegations of the two countries participated in them, but Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan reportedly remained in the negotiating room after the welcoming speech.

The main outcome of the meeting, perhaps, can be considered an agreement on the exchange of prisoners according to the formula "1000 to 1000". In addition, the parties agreed to present in detail their vision of a possible ceasefire.

— The results of the conversation with Trump described by the Russian president indicate that Moscow continues to oppose a comprehensive cease-fire until the parties reach a compromise on key issues for the Russian Federation. This is primarily about compromises and concessions from Ukraine," said Tigran Meloyan.

Despite the progress in the negotiation process, Washington, as usual, is threatening to increase sanctions pressure in case of failure. For example, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the United States, together with Europe, is ready to strengthen restrictions against Russia if Vladimir Putin does not conduct peace talks with Ukraine. According to Bessent, Joe Biden's policy against Russia was unsuccessful because it was not tough enough.

Normalization of relations between Russia and the United States

The dialogue between Moscow and Washington is expected not only to make breakthroughs in the Ukrainian settlement, but also, in general, to contribute to ensuring international stability.

In addition to the Ukrainian settlement, Putin and Trump discussed the state of relations between Russia and the United States and called for their further normalization, Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said. The leaders agreed to continue the dialogue on all issues. The Kremlin also reported on the discussion of plans for the exchange of imprisoned citizens under the 9 for 9 formula.

According to Ushakov, Trump sees Russia as one of the most important partners of the United States. The presidents addressed each other by name: Donald and Vladimir, and neither of them wanted to put down the phone first during a telephone conversation, said the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation.

CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov called the very fact of contacts between Russian and American representatives important from the point of view of "normalizing the military-political situation in the world." He expressed confidence that the effect of the dialogue between Moscow and Washington "will have a direct impact on global processes and will help reduce tensions in various regions of Eurasia, including in the CSTO area of responsibility."

In the last month, the topic of the Ukrainian settlement seemed to come to the fore, pushing aside the track of restoring Russian-American relations. Earlier, negotiations on Ukraine were held in Saudi Arabia, and on the normalization of dialogue between Moscow and Washington — in Turkey. Now the discussion of the crisis has moved to the Istanbul site. However, this does not mean stagnation on the second track. A week ago, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov announced a new round of negotiations on the normalization of diplomatic missions, but the specific date will depend on the implementation of current agreements. So far, things are not going so smoothly with this: as Dmitry Polyansky, the first deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, explained, there is no tangible progress in normalizing the work of the Russian diplomatic missions in the United States, although efforts in this direction are significant.

At the same time, Moscow and Washington still have a number of issues where it is necessary to find common ground. Trump stated that he would discuss trade with Putin in particular. Vance later clarified that the head of the White House would offer Putin economic benefits and restoration of relations with the rest of the world. Following a conversation with Putin, Trump said that he sees huge potential for trade between the United States and Russia after the settlement in Ukraine.