The language of delusion: will the US convince Ukraine to agree to a deal
Washington uses various tools to get Kiev to agree to a deal with Russia. The purpose of the meeting between Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the head of Zelensky's office, Andrei Ermak, is to convince the Ukrainian authorities to compromise, former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told Izvestia. At the same time, Donald Trump had previously resorted to open pressure: he announced Washington's possible refusal to participate in financing Ukraine and did not rule out the imposition of sanctions against Kiev. In contrast, the EU intends to increase the military budget and impose secondary sanctions against energy buyers from the Russian Federation. However, the latest measures will only bring these countries closer to Russia, the European Parliament told Izvestia.
The results of the negotiations between the representatives of the United States and Ukraine
U.S. Special Representative Steve Witkoff met with the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Ermak, and First Deputy Foreign Minister, Serhiy Kislitsa, on August 29. These negotiations are primarily designed to convince Kiev to compromise, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov told Izvestia.
"Steve Witkoff is meeting with the Kiev authorities and Moscow, trying to find some compromise solutions," he said.
According to Azarov, at the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, Witkoff resorted to persuasion rather than coercion.
"I don't see any pressure on the Kiev regime from the United States yet," Azarov said.
Following the conversation, Ermak invited Witkoff to visit Ukraine, and also stated that Kiev was open to direct negotiations. In recent weeks, Ukrainian politicians have constantly stated the need for a personal meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky. However, before this summit, technical negotiations between Russia and Ukraine should take place, Politico newspaper writes. At the same time, Moscow and Kiev are already holding direct talks in Istanbul, but not yet at the highest level. According to Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, the heads of the two countries' delegations are in constant contact, but the date of the new round has not yet been determined. By the way, earlier, Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with US leader Donald Trump, suggested raising the level of delegations at negotiations with Ukraine.
A dialogue between Moscow and Washington is also progressing in parallel. The United States and Russia have narrowed their differences on Ukraine, American Vice President Jay Dee Vance said.
"Steve Witkoff is an invaluable member of our team. <...> The results of his negotiations are that we have narrowed the list of open issues on the conflict in Ukraine to clearly defined ones: security guarantees and territorial concessions," Vance said.
The meeting of the Ukrainian delegation with Witkoff is noteworthy because, compared to another special envoy, Keith Kellogg, he is perceived as more "pro-Russian," Andrei Kortunov, an expert at Valdai, told Izvestia. It should be recalled that the US Special Envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, recently met with the Ukrainian leadership in Kiev on August 24.
Keith Kellogg and Vladimir Zelensky (from left to right)
— In this sense, Witkoff communicates with the Ukrainian delegation as a "bad cop." At this meeting, the Ukrainian delegation could get a detailed understanding of the position of the Russian Federation and what the American side is ready to do. These issues were hardly discussed in detail during the negotiations at the White House," the expert noted.
Recall that following the summit of the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States in Alaska on August 15, the parties announced a productive dialogue. Donald Trump then received Vladimir Zelensky and EU leaders at the White House. After that, Zelensky abandoned his demand for an immediate truce. However, he refuses to make concessions on issues of territories and the neutral status of Ukraine. According to Western media reports, one of the conditions for a peaceful settlement is the transfer of a part of the DPR controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to Russia.
However, Washington is trying to persuade Ukraine to make a deal with Russia using a variety of tools. So, the United States will no longer participate in financing Kiev, and weapons will be supplied at the expense of NATO countries, Donald Trump said the other day. The American leader did not rule out sanctions against Ukraine either.
The biggest challenge for Kiev, as well as for the Europeans behind it, may be the suspension of American intelligence and communications support. The Ukrainian Armed Forces still rely on American Starlink terminals to communicate with military personnel across the front line in real time, notes Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies. Moreover, in February, Washington had already suspended military assistance to Ukraine, and US officials did not rule out that they would do it again.
How Europe is trying to get involved in the dialogue between Russia and the United States
While the United States is talking to one side of the conflict or the other, the EU continues to refuse to make a constructive contribution to the settlement. Instead of a negotiation process, European leaders are discussing the 19th package of sanctions, which is likely to include secondary restrictions against buyers of Russian energy resources. According to Euractive, companies based in China and India may be subject to sanctions. However, it is unlikely that this will have the desired effect for Brussels. For example, New Delhi did not abandon Russian oil even under the threat of 50% US sanctions.
The desire to impose secondary sanctions once again demonstrates the inadequacy of existing restrictions against Russia. Many European countries are facing serious economic problems mainly because of these sanctions, but Russia has not been significantly weakened, European MEP Fernand Kartheiser told Izvestia.
— Secondary sanctions against third countries are unlikely to benefit Ukraine, and instead strengthen the solidarity with Russia of the countries against which they are directed. Europe will face further resistance to coercive measures," the politician noted.
Brussels also intends to strengthen the military component. The European Commission has proposed in the new draft EU budget to increase defense spending by 5-10 times, Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference in Latvia. And according to the head of the European Diplomacy, Kai Kallas, many countries of the association are interested in hosting the production facilities of Ukrainian arms companies on their territory.
Interestingly, for the first time since February 2022, European countries have overtaken the United States in spending on arms purchases for Kiev — €35.1 billion versus €30.7 billion, according to data from the Kiel Institute of World Economy. Given that the United States has stopped announcing new aid packages since Donald Trump returned to the White House and bet on negotiations, Europe is the first place for Kiev in the issue of arms supplies.
"The support of the United States can rightfully be considered indispensable, since in the case of complete distancing of the United States from Ukraine, Europe will have to increase its costs by 1.7 times in order to continue to keep aid at the same level,— Meloyan believes.
The analyst draws attention to the fact that the Europeans can potentially replace the United States in the supply of projectiles by scaling up their own production, which they started back in 2023-2024. However, it will be extremely difficult to find an alternative in the matter of supplying anti-aircraft missiles and components for Patriot systems already in Ukraine.
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