Conditions and signs: Putin confirmed Russia's readiness to negotiate with Ukraine
The aim of negotiations with the United States and Ukraine will be to achieve final peace and ensure Russia's security, Vladimir Putin said. He stressed that the conversation should also be about the security architecture of the whole of Europe. Moscow highly appreciates Washington's mediation efforts, and the Kremlin previously announced that the meeting could take place in mid-November. Nevertheless, the last word will still remain with the direct parties to the conflict, because it will ultimately be up to the Russian and Ukrainian sides to negotiate, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. Against this background, the European Union was effectively excluded from the negotiation process, which is why Brussels is now urgently looking for a figure of a common negotiator for dialogue with the Russian Federation.
What to expect from possible trilateral negotiations
Russia is preparing for a new round of trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States, which may resume in November for the first time since February. Their goal will be to achieve final peace and ensure Russia's security, Vladimir Putin said on October 22. He said that he had agreed with Steve Witkoff on his readiness to resume trilateral contacts to discuss the security of the Russian Federation and Ukraine after the final settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President's Special Envoy Stephen Witkoff during a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg.
As Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier, the exact dates and format of the discussions are still being agreed. At the same time, the conflict is coming to an end, he noted. Donald Trump gave a similarly optimistic assessment, saying that the parties were finally close to concluding a deal.
Moscow is treating the upcoming round soberly: one of the main obstacles remains the territorial issue, without which a long-term peace is impossible. Putin stressed that the lands lost by Kiev are not "their territory", they are the historical lands of Russia. However, this is far from the only important issue. When negotiating on the security of the Russian Federation, one cannot but talk about the security architecture of the whole of Europe, Putin said. Witkoff also drew attention to the need to discuss this issue.
Russia appreciates the mediation efforts of the United States. At the same time, Moscow assumes that Russia and Ukraine will eventually negotiate an end to the crisis. The final settlement of the Ukrainian conflict requires the participation of a representative of Kiev, who is ready to take responsibility for the agreements reached.
— The President has repeatedly said that the Ukrainian and Russian sides will eventually come to an agreement. And in this case, the United States provides good services. Therefore, they create the conditions for an agreement and, accordingly, create the necessary background for an agreement to be reached," Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador—at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia.
He added that further development of the negotiations would depend on Kiev's willingness to take practical steps. In his last interview, Zelensky said that Ukraine does not plan to withdraw troops from Donbass, suggesting that Russia "will go to Pavlodar and Dnipro" (the Ukrainian name for Dnepropetrovsk is Ed.) if Ukrainian troops withdraw from Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. In September, Yuri Ushakov said that progress in resolving the territorial issue could simplify the coordination of other aspects of the Ukrainian settlement. At the same time, the parties have yet to agree on many issues besides territories.
Zelensky said he expects to receive detailed information on the results of negotiations with the Russian side from Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff on October 23. Then, according to him, a joint meeting of the Ukrainian, American and European teams will take place. At the same time, the head of the Ukrainian regime demanded that Washington resume the full operation of Starlink, supply missiles for air defense and provide American intelligence.
Possible November trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi are unlikely to bring the conflict to an end, says Bogdan Bezpalko, a political scientist and member of the Presidential Council on Interethnic Relations. According to him, he sees no prerequisites for negotiations from Kiev. If the meeting takes place, it may end without significant progress, limited to agreements on certain humanitarian issues, such as the exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead. At the same time, the expert notes that negotiations may not take place at all, since Ukraine does not change its position.
How will Europe react to the resumption of negotiations
At the same time, Kiev's European partners are still trying to get involved in the negotiation process. As Politico notes, EU countries are concerned about their status in a possible conflict settlement and are trying to choose a single representative of the interests of the community to participate in the discussions.
Among the likely contenders, the publication names Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Council President Antonio Costa. Stubb's experience in diplomatic relations with neighboring countries and personal acquaintance with Donald Trump are noted in favor. Costa, according to the newspaper's source, can defend the EU's position more effectively than the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Europe is not able to find a candidate who would have sufficient weight and would not be compromised by the ardent support of Ukraine or harsh criticism of Russia, says political analyst Malek Dudakov. Europe fears the resumption of direct dialogue between Russia and the United States, in which European representatives were left out.
As Yuri Ushakov noted after the meeting between Putin and Witkoff, "new points" appeared in the approaches of the EU and Kiev, although they contained "not so much that was useful in the context of resolving the crisis." A striking example of this position was the statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who stressed that the capitulation of the Kiev regime would result in defeat for the whole of Europe. This is how he commented on the growing pressure of US President Donald Trump on the Ukrainian leadership for the sake of concluding a peace agreement as soon as possible.
The European Union is desperately trying to maintain the previous volumes of aid to Kiev, but is facing an acute shortage of its own resources. According to Politico Brussels hopes to convince Canada and the United Kingdom to increase financial support to cover Ukraine's budget deficit for 2027, which is estimated at 70 billion euros.. At the same time, new defendants in corruption cases are appearing in Ukraine. On October 21, NABU conducted searches at the office of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pyshny.
Europe has critically little free money, but even if funds can be found, it is not worth counting on their return to the Europeans. Lubos Blaha, a member of the European Parliament from Slovakia and deputy head of the ruling Smer party, draws attention to this. According to him, Kiev simply will not be able to repay the loans. European countries themselves, against the background of a serious economic and energy crisis, are now simply not ready to replace the United States alone in financing the conflict.
"In a country where yesterday they spent what should have been for tomorrow, it makes no sense not only to talk about any deadlines, but also to use the word "loan" in general, because it should be clearer to everyone that Ukraine will never return this money," Blaha said.
The MEP considers the continuation of the conflict "an absolutely meaningless project, doomed to a catastrophic outcome." Nevertheless, the EU continues to invest in it.
Fernand Kartheiser, a member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg, notes that European leaders continue to support Vladimir Zelensky, despite his declining popularity in Western countries.
"Despite the fact that Zelensky is rapidly losing support in Western public opinion, European leaders continue to unconditionally support the current president of Ukraine,— Kartheiser said.
The situation is aggravated by political instability within the two largest EU economies. In France, the government of Sebastian Lecorny is facing a severe budget crisis and mass protests. In Germany, the AfD party scored a record 30% In a recent poll by the INSA institute for the Bild newspaper, she has already demanded that military and financial assistance to Kiev be completely curtailed. As a result, the key EU locomotives are seriously bogged down in internal problems.
In these circumstances, the November meetings will be a test not so much for Moscow and Kiev as for the European Union itself. While Russia and the United States are resuming direct dialogue, the EU cannot even agree on the candidacy of a common negotiator. Internal strife over money and political crises in Paris and Berlin are practically depriving Europe of the opportunity to present a united front. The main intrigue now is whether Brussels will be able to somehow influence the conditions of the future world, if the Europeans have yet to find their own position.
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