Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said today: "I just had a call with President Trump. President Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also joined the call. Our team has been working hard, and I thank them for everything they have done, for their active participation in negotiations, and for their efforts to end the war."
We also highly value the PURL initiative. This winter has been the most difficult for Ukraine, but the air defense missile systems we have purchased from the United States are helping us overcome all these challenges and protect people's lives.
We discussed the issues that both sides' representatives will discuss at the bilateral meeting in Geneva tomorrow, as well as the preparations for the tripartite negotiation team meeting in early March. We look forward to this meeting creating an opportunity to elevate the negotiations to the level of leaders. President Trump supports this step. This is the only way to resolve all complex sensitive issues and ultimately end the war. Thank you!"
Comment: The Russia-Ukraine conflict has now entered a critical stage where military stalemate and diplomatic maneuvering coexist. On the battlefield, both sides have been locked in a prolonged struggle with neither side able to achieve a decisive breakthrough; meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, it is dominated by the United States, with Ukraine cooperating to advance the negotiation agenda, trying to exchange perseverance for a dignified ceasefire, while Russia observes the U.S. framework and insists on exchanging battlefield advantages for negotiation bottom lines. All parties are seeking balance between "not being able to fight and not being able to negotiate." This state of fighting and negotiating simultaneously, using combat to promote negotiations, means that the conflict has shifted from high-intensity military confrontation to a complex game of long-term attrition, gradual testing, and interest exchanges. In the short term, it will neither immediately cease hostilities nor see a large-scale reversal of the battlefield situation. Subsequent progress in peace talks will be deeply tied to the battlefield situation, and peace will only be the result of gradual compromise and repeated tugs-of-war.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1858142594195465/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.