Play it live: the liberation of Seversk is a signal to the West
The liberation of Seversk brings the expulsion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the territory of Donbass closer. The loss of the city is becoming a signal to the West about Ukraine's inability to defeat Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia. Against this background, a meeting will be held in Paris at which European capitals expect to discuss with the United States the idea of creating a "demilitarized zone." Moscow has already allowed the option of withdrawing the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from the territory of Donbass, but with the establishment of control by the Rosgvardiya. Kiev's defeats at the front, according to experts, seriously worsen its position in possible negotiations.
The loss of Seversk for Ukraine
Russia continues its advance in Donbas. On December 11, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the liberation of Seversk in the DPR.
The city played an important role for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to analysts, he was covering the road to Liman and Slavyansk— the largest agglomeration controlled by Kiev in the Donbas. Russian troops failed to occupy the city during the summer offensive of 2022, but now the situation has changed. Over the past month, Ukraine has lost several important settlements — Pokrovsk, Volchansk and Kupyansk.
Some Western media write that Seversk was one of the "last barriers" on the approaches to Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. For example, Julian Repke, a military columnist for the German newspaper Bild, reported that the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces collapsed "in a few days" after the Russian Armed Forces entered the northeastern part of the city. At the same time, Ukraine still does not officially confirm the loss of Seversk. And for a reason, this radically changes the atmosphere around the negotiations and demonstrates Kiev's weakness, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador—at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
— In this case, it is (the loss of Seversk. — Izvestia) is just an obvious signal to Westerners that Ukraine does not have the necessary military potential to damage [the Russian Armed Forces], weaken [Russia] or [do] anything else that the masters of Ukraine have imagined," he said.
The advance of the Russian Armed Forces at the front directly affects the negotiating positions of both Moscow and Kiev. This is also understood in Washington. US President Donald Trump said in his latest interview that Russia is winning the conflict in Ukraine, and Kiev needs to start recognizing reality on earth and agreeing to the terms of the peace plan.
The successes of the Russian Armed Forces are forcing the United States to put pressure on Ukraine, political analyst Yevgeny Mikhailov believes. The more territories Moscow liberates, the fewer arguments remain in favor of Washington's peace plan, which discusses the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donbass.
Disagreements between Europe and the USA
This peace plan will be the main topic of the upcoming meeting in Paris. Consultations of European countries will be held in the French capital. According to media reports, senior national security advisers from Ukraine, France, Germany and the United Kingdom will be present. At the same time, the participation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at least on the evening of December 12, was not confirmed.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said Trump was tired of European leaders talking and wanted more action from them. According to her, the United States is ready to send a representative to Paris only if there is a "real chance" to sign a peace agreement.
Donald Trump
This is just one of the episodes of the deep split between the United States and Europe, which probably has value reasons. In the National Security Strategy published by the White House, the EU countries are explicitly referred to as an "anti-democratic" association that needs to be helped to "adjust course." In the European press, such formulations are called playing up to ultra-right rhetoric and potentially encouraging interference in the internal politics of European countries. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed that Washington should not interfere in European democratic processes. And the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, warned that the EU "cannot accept the threat of interference" in its political life.
This confrontation is also projected onto the peace plan for the settlement in Ukraine. The United States is promoting its format of the deal, taking into account Moscow's concerns. The Europeans, on the other hand, insist that peace should not look like, as they believe, forcing Kiev to surrender, and are seeking strict security guarantees. The parties also disagree on the issue of frozen Russian assets. Washington opposes their confiscation, as this could disrupt the negotiation process. Brussels, on the contrary, is trying to speed up their illegal use as much as possible. Moscow is warning Brussels of retaliatory measures, as well as that such actions could undermine confidence in European financial institutions.
The Europeans continue to stall for time. They expect that from the beginning of 2026, some processes will begin in the United States that will distract Washington from the Ukrainian settlement, political analyst Yuri Svetov said in a conversation with Izvestia.
— They can expect that impeachment will be brought against Trump or that Washington will get bogged down in a possible war with Venezuela, and then midterm congressional elections will be held — and then Trump will not push so hard. But the current US president has a different approach: he wants to close the topic of Ukraine," he said.
The United States is really in a hurry to reach a peace agreement. According to the FT, the deadline for Kiev to adopt the provisions of the document is set for December 25. Le Monde writes that the meeting in Paris may be an attempt to reconcile the positions of the parties. It is planned to discuss a sensitive territorial issue separately.
The "Demilitarized zone"
According to Trump's plan, Kiev should withdraw from the remaining part of Donbass. On December 8, Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukraine allegedly has neither the legal nor the moral right to give these territories to Russia. However, his position soon changed — on December 11, he admitted that the territorial issue could be submitted to an all-Ukrainian referendum.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that sooner or later the entire territory of Donbass will be under the control of Russian troops. Putin warned back in the summer that if Kiev continued to reject Russian conditions, Ukraine could lose more territories and the country's situation would worsen.
"If we liberate Donbass on our own in a relatively short period of time, while the United States, Europe and Ukraine are thinking about whether to negotiate with the Russian Federation or not, Moscow's negotiating position will inevitably change, and other conditions can be demanded," Evgeny Mikhailov emphasized.
At the same time, the option of creating a so-called demilitarized zone has been actively discussed in recent days. In Washington's terminology, this is a "free economic zone." As a compromise, Kiev is offered to withdraw the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the remaining part of Donbass, provided that the Russian Armed Forces do not enter these territories. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov indirectly confirmed these discussions, saying on December 12 that as a result of the negotiations, neither Russian nor Ukrainian troops could remain in Donbass, and the Rosgvardiya would ensure order.
"In any case, no matter what the situation, this territory is the territory of the Russian Federation, and it will be under the control of our administrations," he said.
The boundaries of this "demilitarized zone" are not fully known. They will probably change more than once. Anyway, if there is such a zone, it will definitely be outside of Donbass, on the territory of Ukraine, concluded Yuri Svetov.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
