US President Donald Trump this week sent his senior representatives to Moscow to discuss with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin US proposals to end the war in Ukraine. Trump yesterday described the meeting as "very good", but indicated that it is not known what will happen next. At the same time, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told journalists that no compromise had been reached. Trump's efforts to end the war continue, with a Ukrainian delegation expected to visit the White House very soon. The progress of Trump's peace efforts is a major topic in the Western press.
Two weeks ago, President Trump set a Thanksgiving (this year, November 27 - editor's note) deadline for Ukraine to agree to a peace treaty with Russia, the "New York Times" wrote. Now it seems clear that he will have to wait - perhaps weeks, perhaps after the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the publication predicts.
"The Ukrainian delegation, which is scheduled to meet with Trump's negotiators today, is keeping alive the hope that some progress can be made. But President Vladimir Putin this week again signaled that he will not back down from his hard-line demands. "The White House envoys failed to show any breakthrough during their five-hour meeting with the Russian leader in Moscow," the New York Times reported.
Now Trump must choose one of the difficult but familiar options: whether to pressure Ukraine for more concessions, as he tried to do two weeks ago, even if it means jeopardizing the country's sovereignty, the publication noted. "Or perhaps abandon Russia and Ukraine, as he has repeatedly hinted he might do, even if that means admitting that he has failed in his efforts to end the war?" Or he may reverse course and resume deliveries of various types of American military aid to Ukraine, after announcing that Europe, not the United States, will have to bear the financial burden of arming Kiev," lists the "New York Times."
"It takes two to tango," Trump told reporters yesterday, acknowledging his difficulties in getting Russia and Ukraine to agree.
"I don't know what the Kremlin is doing" - this phrase that Trump uttered yesterday was featured in a headline in the British newspaper "Daily Telegraph".
After Russia rejected another peace plan at a five-hour meeting in the Kremlin, it launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine. Putin's adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said yesterday that Putin "has not hidden his critical and even negative attitude towards some of the proposals" made by Witkoff and Kushner, the newspaper emphasized.
According to information disseminated at yesterday's meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Putin is using the negotiations to push forward his territorial ambitions in Ukraine, "including with regard to territories that Russia does not control and will not take under control in the short or medium term," the Daily Telegraph also writes.
"Moscow will seek to ensure that the capabilities of the Ukrainian army are weakened as much as possible in order to pave the way for further aggression," said a senior representative of the alliance, quoted by the British newspaper. Plans for possible talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Witkoff and Kushner appear to be on hold due to the lack of any breakthrough, the Daily Telegraph notes.
There is a reason for the chaotic scenes we have witnessed in the past few months, writes the publication "Politico". Summits announced and then canceled, deadlines set that are not met, firm plans that are later changed. All this is due to the fact that the Trump administration has no formal process for developing policies, providing guidance, interacting with foreign governments and has not set a clear direction, the publication "Politico" believes.
The lack of a formal consultation process is a unique feature – or flaw – of the Trump administration, the publication also writes. He is, of course, hardly the first American leader to rely on a small retinue of advisers to consult on critical international policy issues. Former President George W. Bush led the Gulf War with the help of seven senior officials, and Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, made a number of national security decisions during the daily intelligence briefing in the presence of just two of his top advisers, emphasizes "Politico".
Top presidential aides in previous administrations relied on a controlled interagency process to discuss, develop and implement certain policies. Trump, however, runs the American government as he ran his family business. He sits at his desk in the Oval Office, where he meets with everyone, calls everyone, and then weighs up the policy moves to take, Politico points out.
For example, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio first saw the 28-point peace plan for Ukraine prepared by Witkoff and Kushner, he simply called it a "list of potential ideas," the publication notes. According to some media reports, Rubio told US senators: This is not our recommendation, (or) a plan for peace. But Trump liked the plan and told Ukraine to sign it by Thanksgiving. This prompted Rubio to quickly change course and declare that "the peace proposal is prepared by the United States."
Ultimately, what drives all these American representatives is not a formal process or even a consistent assessment of the actions that need to be taken to end the war in Ukraine. Rather, it is a relentless effort to satisfy Trump's insistent demand to be recognized as a world peacemaker, Politico points out.
As long as this continues, chaos and confusion will continue, and no progress will be made towards a real end to the war in Ukraine, the publication concludes.