According to The Washington Post, US President Donald Trump's team is currently actively trying to persuade Ukraine to make territorial "concessions" to the aggressor country Russia, but Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky continues to resist.
Points of attention
- The pressure from Trump's team to make concessions to Putin's interests sheds light on the complexities of international diplomatic negotiations and Ukraine's resilience in defending its territories.
- The misinterpretation of Russia's demands by the White House's chief negotiator with the Kremlin showcases the challenges in mediating between conflicting interests and the need for diplomatic skill.
The US is increasing pressure on Ukraine
American journalists have published an article with previously unknown details of the meeting between the teams of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington.
As the media learned, the US President's special representative for Russia, Steve Witkoff, actively demanded that Ukraine give the entire Donetsk region to the aggressor country.
In fact, he was promoting Putin's demand, which was voiced during recent phone calls with Trump.
Witkoff “justified” the dictator’s whim by saying that the region is predominantly Russian-speaking.
"We will not give anything to the aggressor, we will not forget anything," Zelenskyy answered him clearly.
The WP publication draws attention to the fact that a certain part of Ukrainians, including Zelensky himself, grew up speaking Russian, but “historically this has never been a sign of sympathy for Moscow.”
Witkoff was the White House's chief negotiator with the Kremlin ahead of the Anchorage meeting, which European officials say resulted from his misinterpretation of Russia's demands and demonstrated the inability to make significant progress, the publication notes.
