US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev met in Washington to discuss a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.
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The US is waiting for Dmitriev to report back to Putin before moving forward with next steps, with Dmitriev saying there is an understanding on how to finalize an agreement.
“Steve has been really focused on solutions. I think there is an understanding for how we can move to finalize the agreement, and there have been lots of discussion in that realm,” Kirill Dmitriev said.
U.S. Secretary of State Rubio however is not so optimistic, but realistic. Rubio is known to represent the more neocon interests which have infiltrated DC policymaking.
"We will know in a matter of weeks, not months, if Russia is serious about peace. If this is just a delay tactic by Russia, President Trump is not interested.
"If Russia is not serious about peace, we will have to reevaluate our position."
Russia state media TASS also opined:
Russia and the US took three steps forward in the negotiation process, said CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev who visited the US on April 2-3. There he held meetings with key members of the US administration. This was the first visit by a high-ranking Russian official to Washington since 2022. The Russian envoy discussed the possibilities of resuming direct air service between the two countries, a ceasefire in Ukraine as well as cooperation on the Arctic and rare-earth metals. The RDIF head noted that the date of new Moscow-Washington talks will be determined in the near future. That said, in spite of continued Russia-US dialogue, Brussels and Kiev continue to hinder the conflict’s settlement.
"The sanctions issue may be discussed very soon. So far, the situation with lifting the restrictions is complicated but if at least some of the Western sanctions are removed, it will be a major progress," Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Center for Security Studies, told Izvestia.
Despite progress in Russian-US dialogue, external and internal forces continue to undermine the process of the Ukrainian settlement. Ukraine, the EU and even certain groups within the US itself are forming obstacles on the way to normalization. For instance, the Ukrainian leadership, according to experts, above all, sees the talks as a threat to their political positions. This merely shows Kiev’s aspiration to retain its militant posture by repeatedly attempting to disrupt the negotiation process, believes Ivan Loshkarev, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Theory at MGIMO University. "For the current Ukrainian leadership this is the way to stay in power while progress in negotiations increases the risks of losing it. However, constant violations of the truce are unlikely to alter the general course of the Trump administration’s policy because it has already spent a lot of resources on it, including reputational ones. Against this background, public and behind-the-scenes pressure on Kiev will grow but so far, there is still room for maneuvering between Washington and Brussels as the Ukrainian side’s external sponsors and the attempts of disruption will continue," Loshkarev told Izvestia.
Within the US, the resistance comes from the anti-Russian lobby. Despite the change of the administration, some officials, even within the Republican Party, are still against dialogue with the Russian side.
"Perhaps, statements have been toned down somewhat but overall, there have been no radical changes. It is naive to expect a full-fledged ‘de-escalation,’ while the Americans do not perceive the value of normal relations with Russia, nor any real fear of Russia as their equal," Mikhail Mironyuk, associate professor with the Department of Politics and Management at the Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia.
Why doesn’t Trump just pull the plug on our assistance to Ukraine? If we are the force behind Ukraine, what say does Zelensky have anyway?