American race: Trump is trying to speed up the settlement in Ukraine
US President Donald Trump is seeking to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough on Ukraine before the midterm congressional elections, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. On October 9, a Ukrainian delegation arrived in the United States to meet with Special Representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Options for at least a partial energy and naval truce are on the agenda. However, Moscow emphasizes that fragmented agreements will not bring a settlement closer, since Russia does not need a truce, but a full-fledged peace. About what the new proposals of the White House to Moscow might be and whether a new meeting in the Russia–USA–Ukraine format is possible before the November elections in the States, see the Izvestia article.
Visit of the Ukrainian delegation to the USA
The White House's diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis have intensified again. On October 9, a delegation from Kiev arrived in Florida to meet with special representatives of the US President Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. It includes the head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Rustem Umerov, and the head of the presidential office, Kirill Budanov (listed in the Russian Federation as a terrorist and extremist). The negotiations are expected to last two days.
Special Envoy of the President of the United States Stephen Witkoff and Jared Kushner
According to Axios, on the eve of the meeting, Witkoff and Kushner presented Donald Trump with "new ideas" and received clear instructions from him. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Deputy National Security Adviser Mike Needham also participated in the discussion. According to NBC News, the special envoys intend to discuss a new "comprehensive" settlement plan with the Ukrainian delegation. At the same time, as it became known to the media, Washington plans to offer at least a partial truce, which provides for an end to attacks on energy infrastructure and a halt to attacks on ships carrying grain in the Black Sea.
Since April, Russia has recorded a sharp expansion in the geography and intensity of Ukrainian strikes, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia: the attack zone not adjacent to the line of contact has grown by about 20%.
— Attacks on civilian industry and refineries are being recorded. They also attack civilian sea transport carrying grain, petroleum products, and more. Ukraine launched these tracks using primarily European financial and military assistance," he said.
It should be noted that the national security advisers of Great Britain, France and Germany, as well as representatives of NATO and the European Union, were invited to the meeting with Ukrainians in Miami. The last visit of Witkoff and Kushner to Russia took place in early September. According to media reports, Trump's envoys may visit Moscow again for talks with Vladimir Putin as early as this month, that is, before the midterm congressional elections on November 3.
Right now, Donald Trump's rating remains at a low level, ranging from 32 to 37%, which could create problems for the Republican Party that supports him. In these circumstances, the American administration is striving to achieve at least a temporary breakthrough in the Ukrainian direction, American scholar Malek Dudakov said in a conversation with Izvestia. According to him, a possible diplomatic success is necessary for the White House in order to sell it to the American electorate as a major victory on the foreign policy circuit.
At the same time, on October 8, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the conflict a dangerous impasse and warned that further escalation could spread to NATO countries. It is also interesting that Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, agreed on the same day with the definition of the situation as a dead end.
Prospects for new negotiations between Russia– the United States and Ukraine
At the same time, Russia has intensified retaliatory strikes against key elements of Ukraine's transport, military and industrial logistics. In addition to the port infrastructure, the targets of the attacks were military-industrial complex facilities, large warehouses, as well as the country's energy system. In early October, the Russian Armed Forces struck the bridges over the Dnieper River in Kiev, which provided the transfer of troops and logistics of military supplies. The mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, advised residents to leave the city amid the threat of a large-scale communal crisis.
The main reason and purpose of the Ukrainian delegation's visit to the United States is to save Ukraine from critical exhaustion and possible defeat on the eve of winter, Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute of Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia.
According to the analyst, the United States is not interested in the defeat of Ukraine and its transformation into a "failed state" and seeks to end the conflict in a format "without winners and losers." Instead of discussing the terms of a comprehensive settlement, Washington is trying to save the Kiev regime through an energy and Black Sea truce. This will allow Ukraine to survive the winter and continue fighting with renewed vigor next year.
The United States, together with the Europeans, is discussing possible incentives that can be offered to Moscow, Suslov believes. Earlier, information appeared in the press that in exchange for an energy truce, Russia allegedly demanded the lifting of sanctions. According to journalists, Kirill Dmitriev, the special representative of the President of Russia for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, announced a similar condition to the American side in September during his last visit to the United States.
Following a telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on October 9, the parties agreed that Moscow would supply more than 1.8 million tons of diesel fuel in several stages, and then could send another 3 million tons. At the same time, this could provoke an internal wave of Trump's accusations that he is an "agent of Putin," Suslov notes. Vladimir Zelensky has already criticized this decision.
At the same time, Russia rejects proposals for a partial ceasefire, including a mutual rejection of attacks on energy facilities and measures to restore navigation in the Black Sea. As the Kremlin emphasizes, fragmentary agreements will not bring a peaceful settlement closer. The agreement should only be comprehensive, since the country "does not need a truce, but peace," Peskov stressed earlier.
Experts admit that new meetings of negotiators in the Russia–USA–Ukraine format are possible before the beginning of November, but they are unlikely to lead to drastic changes if their agenda remains an attempt to impose a partial truce that is unfavorable to Russia. The last meeting in this format was held in February this year in Geneva.
In general, according to Vladimir Putin, considerable attention was paid during the conversation with Trump to the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis. In addition, earlier, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, noted that the American special envoys would be happy to see in Moscow if they wanted to personally share the results of the negotiations.
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