Vladimir Putin has been given the opportunity to prolong the negotiating process following the latest round of talks in Abu Dhabi, Politico reports. According to the analysis, US representatives backed the Kremlin’s demand that all contentious issues be discussed simultaneously, rather than starting with a separate ceasefire agreement.
“The goal is to examine all the problems in one go and then find a way to resolve them simultaneously,” said Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a participant in the US diplomatic mission.
This approach rules out making progress on individual issues in stages. According to Politico, it also makes it less likely that the talks will begin with a ceasefire and then move on to territorial, military and political disputes. Experienced diplomats generally view such sequencing as a way to build trust between the parties.
The Kremlin insists that all issues are interconnected
Eugene Rumer, who worked at the US National Intelligence Council under President Barack Obama, believes that the strategy of “discussing everything at once” could divert attention from the central issue – the war in Ukraine.
Politico recalls that Moscow has long presented the individual issues as interconnected and insisted that they be resolved simultaneously. The publication warns that this could turn the negotiations into a tool for buying time, creating uncertainty and expanding room for manoeuvre.
“Trying to resolve everything at once in practice means that nothing will be resolved. That is precisely the intention,” Politico’s analysis states.
What Russia is demanding
Among Moscow’s longstanding demands are guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO, will retain neutral status and will accept restrictions on the size and armament of its military. Russia also wants Crimea and the four Ukrainian regions it claims as its own to receive international recognition in that status.
According to New York Times, Moscow is also demanding that NATO stop its future expansion and that the alliance’s troops and military bases be returned to their positions as of 1997. This demand also includes allied forces in Poland and the Baltic states.
Separately, Russia wants Western deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Kyiv to be halted. Moscow would allow Ukraine to join the European Union only on condition that the country withdraw from participation in the bloc’s common defence policy.
Ukraine must have the right to have its say in any potential agreement, while European countries have already rejected attempts to negotiate the future security architecture of the continent solely between Washington and Moscow. Following the talks in Abu Dhabi, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and met with Putin. No breakthrough was announced on the key issues of the territories and Ukraine’s future status.
Sources: unian.net, apnews.com, washingtonpost.com