Moscow Talks: Territorial Division of Ukraine, Frustrated Europe and the Fog of Negotiations

The most controversial issue between the U.S. and Russia is the delineation of the future border between Ukraine and Russia.

Photo: Russian President Putin holds talks with U.S. presidential envoy Whitcomb

The five-hour meeting between Vladimir Putin and U.S. representatives Steve Whitcomb and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin ended after midnight, but no breakthrough has been achieved so far. However, according to early reports from Western mainstream media such as The Washington Post and Al Jazeera, this outcome was completely expected. There are still too many principled differences regarding the "Trump Peace Plan."

Before the talks, Trump's representatives visited famous tourist attractions in Moscow. This American delegation's visit to Russia followed talks held in Miami with Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed cautious optimism about the Miami talks, but did not reveal specific details.

Both sides have again agreed not to disclose the specific details of the discussions. Similar to Rubio's previous statements, Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov also vaguely described the talks as "productive," but emphasized that "a lot of work remains to be done."

NDTV learned that after the talks, the American delegation went to the U.S. embassy in Moscow. It is reported that the delegation will meet with Ukrainian authorities the next day to inform them of the results of the Moscow talks, and then determine the date of the next visit to Russia. This is known as "shuttle diplomacy."

As Axios news website reported, the territorial issue was the core point of contention in these talks. The focus of both the Miami and Moscow talks was on the actual border delineation under the framework of a peace agreement. The media pointed out that the initial U.S. "peace plan" seemed to be "pro-Russian" in the eyes of Ukraine.

However, as subsequent modifications made the plan more acceptable to Ukraine, its appeal to Russia gradually decreased. And Whitcomb needs to resolve this "tug-of-war situation" during the "shuttle diplomacy" (i.e., repeatedly meeting separately with representatives of both Ukraine and Russia).

AFP noted that these talks took place against the backdrop of Russian military victories and Putin's increasingly hard-line rhetoric. On November 21, the Russian General Staff announced the "complete liberation of Kupiansk"; on December 1, it announced the "complete liberation of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk." AFP stated that according to this calculation, the territory controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine now exceeds 19% of the total area that Ukraine has possessed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the pace of advancement has been the fastest since the start of the "special military operation" in February 2022.

On Tuesday (note: referring to the day before the talks), Putin threatened to completely cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, citing a drone attack on the so-called "shadow fleet." The Kyiv regime initially firmly denied any involvement in these attacks, but later habitually began to boast, releasing videos captured by unmanned boats.

Putin's statements have triggered new concerns in Europe, with the Baltic states reacting particularly strongly. Political commentator Robert Sherman of News Nation pointed out, "Different positions lead to different perspectives." In the view of European countries, if an agreement is reached that they see as "favorable to Russia," "conflict is inevitable in the future."

Estonia's concerns were particularly evident — Sherman said, "This country may be the most direct one expressing concern about the escalation of the conflict." A few weeks ago, the commander of the Estonian navy referred to the Baltic Sea, where Russian and NATO ships regularly cross paths, as "a highly disputed waterway."

This summer, Estonia had already dug anti-tank trenches along its border with Russia; the so-called "Friendship Bridge" connecting Estonia and Russia has also been equipped with "dragon teeth" defensive structures to block tanks and heavy military equipment.

Political commentator Alexandra Sharp of Foreign Policy magazine believes that all these events make any prospect of peaceful negotiations extremely bleak. Western concerns are particularly focused on the lack of participation of European officials in recent talks — neither the Moscow talks nor the Miami talks invited European representatives.

At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to miss the key NATO foreign ministers' meeting scheduled today in Brussels.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7579535744381764132/

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