Three-day truce only in Kyiv and Moscow for the visit of the American emissaries

MoscowAfter more than half a year with peace talks stalled due to the conflict in the Middle East, Donald Trump seeks to relaunch negotiations to reach an agreement that puts an end to the war in Ukraine. His emissaries, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, landed this Saturday in Moscow, where they met with Vladimir Putin, and this Sunday they will be in Kyiv for the first time to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The visit takes place in the midst of an escalation of long-range cross-bombardments and with the Russian president less willing than ever to make concessions. Despite this, both sides have ended up accepting a three-day ceasefire over the two capitals to ensure the safety of the American diplomats.

The truce, which is usually considered a test of good will, has been marked by Putin's resistance. On Friday, Zelenskyy announced that he would immediately stop attacks both at the front and in the rear, but Russia did not agree and wanted to set the timing and conditions. During Saturday early morning, the Russian army continued the bombings and killed four people in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Furthermore, it has also attacked the airports in the vicinity of Kyiv, in an attempt to make it clear that it was not safe for the White House envoys to fly to the Ukrainian capital. Zelenskyy has described them as “demonstrative” and “deliberate” acts. “Clearly, these Russian attacks on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility that the American side would use an aircraft to travel to Ukraine. Russian-Iranian Shaheds in response to American diplomacy,” he wrote.

It was not until the afternoon that the Kremlin complied with the ceasefire, but it limited it to Kyiv and Moscow, and refused to stop the offensive on the front line. In this way, the Russian government intends to make it clear to the negotiators that they are the ones holding the reins and that it is Ukraine that is desperately trying to achieve a pause in the fighting. In addition to targeting Kyiv's airports, which had not been targets of Russian drones for some time, the day before, the Russian army also attacked the office of the head of Ukrainian intelligence in the historic center of the city, culminating more than a week of incessant attacks against the capital.

Low expectations

Putin, as in Witkoff's seven previous visits, has once again kept his guests waiting. Trump's emissaries landed at noon in Moscow and the Russian president filled his schedule with events until meeting them at eight in the evening. Presidential advisor Kirill Dmitriev, who has the best relationship with them, received them at the airport and took them to lunch at a restaurant in the city center where one could read on the windows "Everything for victory!". The establishment is owned by a pro-Putin rapper who also took over the business of the American company Starbucks when it left Russia in 2022.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Russian president assured that such contacts "are always beneficial," even if the situation is "difficult," and promised to ensure the safety of the negotiators. Witkoff thanked him for the truce and added that when he retires, the time spent with him will have been "one of the best and most memorable memories." At the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, Putin conveyed to the White House emissaries that he will continue to cooperate with the US on the diplomatic path, but that the Russian army "will achieve the set objectives," as stated by Russian advisor Yuri Ushakov at the end of the meeting.

The expectations for this double visit are very low and the obstacles that have stalled any peace agreement until now have not vanished. The Russian president is convinced that his troops will soon be able to conquer the Donbas, despite the evidence that their advances are very slow. The Kremlin does not want to negotiate anything while Zelensky does not order his men to abandon the last bastions of this region. And, although he no longer trusts that Washington can force him to take this step, Russian diplomacy insists that the American administration "must take into account the realities on the ground, where the situation is changing to Kyiv's detriment".

In contrast, the Ukrainian president maintains that the surrender of the Donbas is an intolerable starting point and insists on the demand for a ceasefire prior to any discussion. Zelensky has been striving for many months to reactivate diplomatic efforts, stalled by the American attack on Iran, and for the United States envoys to see the ravages of war up close. However, although he publicly shows hope for the results of this visit, in Ukraine they do not trust that it will pave the way toward the resolution of the conflict.

Before the trip, Trump claimed that Witkoff and Kushner would bring a "peace idea" to Moscow and Kyiv. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified this Saturday that it was not a new proposal. The formulas proposed so far have not worked, and every time the White House has tried to spur mediation with new plans, it has run into the inflexibility of a Putin for whom this war is his legacy and a Zelensky who does not want to go down in history as the president who surrendered Ukraine.