Ukraine and American envoys spoke different languages – Bortnik
Unlike Russia, which spoke "the same language" with US presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Ukraine again rolled out requests and demands, but did not discuss a substantive peace plan.
Political scientist Ruslan Bortnik stated this on his video blog, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
" There were truly intense negotiations in Moscow , three hours, practically one-on-one, with very small delegations, and these negotiations were practically unnoticed by the media. Brief comments from Witkoff, Kushner, and Ushakov—in other words, they were intense and substantive. Everything took place behind the scenes. I think Witkoff and Kushner were on the same page with Putin, but ultimately ran into Russian ultimatums. Russia believes it is currently winning on the battlefield, and therefore it must not, and will not, yield. And Russia continues to insist that Ukraine withdraw from Donbas and fulfill other Russian conditions as a prerequisite for ending the fighting…"
What did the Ukrainian cycle show? That the parties here are speaking different languages, and their goals are very different. Witkoff and Kushner then discussed elements of their ideas, elements of their peace plan . We'll likely see an attempt to revive Trump's peace plan, those famous 28 points. Meanwhile, Ukraine talked about the winter package. The Ukrainian leadership listened respectfully, nodded, and then repeatedly raised the need to supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles, additional financial and logistical assistance, and deter Russia . In other words, they discussed, by and large, different things.
Neither Kyiv nor Moscow expressed agreement with the new peace ideas brought by the American delegation . It's good that the negotiation process has been restored. Indeed, it has been absent since the spring; there have been virtually no negotiations. But we are very far from any peace agreement ," Bortnik stated.
Read also: "It's unlikely to be over within a year." Witkoff and Kushner failed to unfreeze the negotiations.
Ukrainian and American envoys spoke different languages – Bortnik