Russia-Ukraine negotiations: no results?
Talks in Geneva between representatives of Ukraine and Russia, attended by the United States, have ended after two days. Russia's chief negotiator, Putin adviser Vladimir Medinsky, described the talks as "difficult, but business-like", while in an interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of progress on military issues. However no concrete results have been announced so far.
No closer to peace
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says the statements about the talks being "business-like" and "intensive" were aimed at one person only:
“Would-be peacemaker Donald Trump. For Russia these negotiations are not about peace, but about driving a wedge between Ukraine and the US. For Ukraine it is vital to prevent Moscow from achieving this goal. This does not bring the two parties any closer to peace. A ceasefire will only be within reach if constant pressure exacerbates the domestic problems in Russia to such an extent that Vladimir Putin considers a pause in the fighting to be tactically advantageous.”
All very complicated
Radio Kommersant sees just one cause for optimism:
“The main result is that a new round of talks will take place in the coming days. If this had not been announced, the whole scenario would be completely hopeless. But at least now we can say that there is something to discuss. And while there was a certain degree of optimism before, the vast majority of observers and experts considered the situation in the run-up to the meeting in Geneva to be hopeless. ... The meeting is over. Not only was there no breakthrough, but both sides basically have nothing to say except that it's all very complicated.”
Business taking precedence over conflict resolution
The US peace initiatives basically boil down to business deals, Der Standard criticises:
“Instead of sending experienced diplomats from the US State Department, Trump has always sent lawyer and property developer Steve Witkoff and his own son-in-law Jared Kushner to his 'peace negotiations'. Of course, peace negotiations are always about business. However Witkoff, Kushner and Trump don't appear to be negotiating for peace but purely for their own business interests. Specifically those involving Russia. US support for the territorial divides demanded by Russia beyond the current front line can only be explained if the end goal is lucrative economic cooperation between Russia and the US – or rather the Trump clan.”