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Signs of agreement: Russia and the United States have agreed on a new round of negotiations on Ukraine
A new round of trilateral talks on resolving the Ukrainian crisis may take place as early as next week, it became known on November 12, after a meeting between Vladimir Putin and American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. According to Witkoff, the next consultations were agreed upon at the meeting in the Kremlin. Representatives of the US president also supported Vladimir Putin's initiative for a new humanitarian truce following the example of Alyosha, this time in Konstantinovka in the DPR. Experts believe that Kiev is unlikely to take this step without pressure from the United States. Moscow also hopes that Washington will be able to influence its European allies to change their belligerent position, which hinders the settlement. In addition, the parties continue to discuss a large-scale prisoner exchange, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said after a meeting in the Kremlin.
Witkoff and Kushner visit to Moscow
On November 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin received American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the Kremlin. This meeting was a continuation of the first talks between Russia and Ukraine since February, mediated by the United States, which took place in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11. Moscow called the conversation with Witkoff and Kushner informative, constructive and useful. Its results were discussed at a meeting of the Russian Security Council, where the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, delivered a report.
According to Witkoff, some progress has been made following the meeting in the Kremlin — a new round of trilateral consultations on Ukraine has been agreed. Kushner called the talks "intense and detailed." On the air of Vesti, he said that multilateral negotiations are scheduled for next week.
It is possible that the issue of territories will already be raised at them. And at a meeting with American representatives, Vladimir Putin admitted that both the Russian and Ukrainian sides understand him differently.
— We know that the Ukrainian side is raising the issue of the so-called "grey zones". And this, as I said before, will always be a bone of contention. For us, there is only one line of demarcation — the state border line. Because then it will be clear and clear: you are here, we are here. As soon as we get involved in discussions about "gray zones", they are understood in different ways, disputes and instability of any agreement immediately begin, and there will be no lasting peace," Putin said.
At the same time, according to him, Russia would like it to be not just a long-term peace, but "an eternal peace."
Following the talks in Abu Dhabi, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a new large-scale prisoner exchange. After the meeting in the Kremlin, Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that his parameters were being agreed upon. In addition, according to him, American representatives actively supported Putin's initiative on a new humanitarian mission, this time in Konstantinovka. The Head of State suggested organizing an operation based on Alyosha's experience — from October 27 to November 1, a local ceasefire was in effect there, which allowed hundreds of people to be evacuated to the territory of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. According to the President, there are about 400-500 civilians in Konstantinovka right now.
— We will ensure security from our side. We need five days to clear the approaches to this settlement. If Ukraine controls, let them do the same," Putin said.
Ushakov later explained that the humanitarian action in Konstantinovka would allow everyone to make sure under whose control this city really is. Russia is ready to start mine clearance in Konstantinovka immediately. The office of the President of Ukraine, however, reacted skeptically to the initiative.
According to Boris Rozhin, an expert at the Center for Military and Political Journalism, if such a truce is concluded, Russia will have the opportunity to withdraw the civilian population from Konstantinovka and conduct mine clearance, which is important both in terms of evacuation and logistical routes for further operations. Kiev's refusal will demonstrate that the Ukrainian authorities are not interested in saving civilians and a humanitarian truce, he said. Kiev is unlikely to agree to this agreement on its own, the expert believes. However, Ukraine may be forced to agree under pressure from the American administration.
Europe's participation in the negotiations
It is expected that Kushner and Witkoff will transmit signals from the meeting with Putin to Zelensky — immediately after the conversation in the Kremlin, American envoys went to meet with him in Dublin. In Ireland, European leaders gathered for the summit of the European Political Community, and on the 13th there will be an informal summit of the European Union.
They will assess the current security situation and the progress of the peace talks, including the Abu Dhabi talks. A separate issue will be the development of a unified position of the European Union and the possible establishment of the post of EU special representative for negotiations with Russia, which was previously insisted on by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. French President Emmanuel Macron, in particular, has put forward his candidacy for the post of negotiator with Russia from Europe. At the same time, he stressed that first the EU countries need to develop a unified position on Ukraine and their own interests. Macron's Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb, as well as the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, are also applying for the position of representative from Europe.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Following the talks in Russia, Witkoff unexpectedly announced that representatives of European countries could allegedly take part in the next meeting on Ukraine. Kushner, in turn, noted that the United States had begun discussing the security architecture on the continent with the Europeans. However, the possible participation of the Europeans in the negotiations does not mean that they will be effective — for this it is necessary that they move in line with compromises regarding their positions.
Moscow has repeatedly pointed out that Europe is taking a destructive position on the Ukrainian settlement. The Europeans remain Kiev's largest military and financial donor. In addition, at the meeting with Witkof and Kushner, Vladimir Putin noted:
— As for the Europeans, we have never been against having a dialogue with Europe, and we have never interrupted it. They interrupted the dialogue with the Russian Federation.
Also, European countries are not abandoning the idea of deploying military contingents on the territory of Ukraine after the end of the conflict. Vladimir Putin recalled that in this case they would be a legitimate target for the Russian Armed Forces.
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, noted that Europe is trying to demonstrate some kind of attitude towards peace, but at the same time it is talking about deploying a contingent in Ukraine.
According to Ivan Loshkarev, associate professor of the MGIMO Department of Political Theory, the EU countries are ready to build a future security system solely on the basis of existing institutions, primarily NATO. This means that the issues of reforming the OSCE and creating a unified architecture from Lisbon to Vladivostok are not even being raised. As a result, the principle of equal and indivisible security, in fact, recedes into the background for Brussels.
According to Yuri Ushakov, the Russian Federation is ready to immediately begin discussing proposals on European security in tandem with the United States. In addition, Moscow and Washington are preparing for new large—scale negotiations - a meeting between Putin and Trump in China at the APEC summit, which will be held on November 18-19. Ushakov noted that the leaders would continue discussing the Ukrainian settlement there. It is expected that a trilateral meeting of the leaders of Russia, the United States and China may also take place. There is an active discussion of its content now.
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