Nobody knows when the talks will happen, or in what city. It is unclear who might be sitting at the table, or what format the discussion will take. But Donald Trump last weekend called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine a day after meeting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Paris and at some point the incoming US administration will fully turn its attention to negotiating an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Last week, Trump appointed the retired army general Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, tasked primarily with ending the war. Or as Trump put it in his online announcement, to "secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH".
As the US transition approaches, both Moscow and Kyiv are warily considering the prospect of talks, downplaying the idea publicly yet manoeuvring to be in the best possible position when Trump takes office in January. Ukraine, after finally receiving a long-requested green light, has begun firing western-supplied long-range missiles into Russia;
Vladimir Putin, in response, used a nuclear-capable ballistic missile to hit the city of Dnipro last month, and followed it up with escalatory threats.
An easy path to a peace deal is hard to discern. A common assumption in the west has been that freezing the line of conflict could be a prelude to talks, but neither side appears keen: Russia, because it is advancing on the battlefield; Ukraine, because it fears that without real security guarantees from the west freezing the lines would simply give Russia time to regroup before it launched a fresh assault.
"It would mean losing the war," said Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Zelenskyy. "Russia gets our territory, and then they will dominate at the negotiation table, with new demands ... I don't really understand what these talks would be. Would it just be that we are told to fulfil Russia's ultimatums? How would that be in Ukraine's interest, after three years of resistance?"
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の December 13, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の December 13, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
FROM DOCTOR TO BRUTAL DICTATOR THE RISE AND FALL OF ASSAD
0N THE FACE OF IT AT LEAST, the Bashar al-Assad of 2002 presented a starkly different figure from the brutal autocrat he would become, presiding over a fragile state founded on torture, imprisonment and industrial murder.
What fresh alternatives can be used to placate coriander haters?
Everyone knows a hater of coriander - also known as cilantro - who won't go near the stuff. Itamar Srulovich, however, is not one: \"I adore fresh coriander, and always have,\" says the chef/co-owner of the Honey & Co group in London.
Farage is lying in wait.Britain cannot afford to see Starmer fail Jonathan Freedland
This government must not fail. Let's get that clear from the start. If Keir Starmer does not succeed, too many British voters will conclude that both the traditional parties, Labour and Conservative, have proved useless and that it is time to try something else with that something else being nationalist populism.
Compromise may be Macron's only hope of restoring confidence Paul Taylor
Having failed to solve France's political crisis with a prime minister dependent on the far right, President Emmanuel Macron is exploring a deal with the Socialist party (PS) to give the country a new government, pass an overdue budget and avert financial turmoil.
It's a sad story for us all that fewer children are reading for pleasure Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
On the shelf in my son's bedroom is a row of picture books that once belonged to me.
'Gun control is dead, and we killed it'
Blueprints for 3D-printed weapons are increasingly being used by far-right extremists to evade gun control laws. So what can be done?
Help support the victims of conflict in a volatile world
When we came to choose the theme of our 2024 charity appeal, we quickly realised it would be impossible to ignore that this has been an especially harrowing year of conflict, war and human suffering.
Ring master The Trump circus is already back in town
The grand reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris last Saturday was attended by around 50 heads of state and government.
Object lessons Behind the scenes of a museum's grand reserves
A tour of the newarchive collection of London's Science Museum andits associates reveals a cornucopia of wonders and treasures
Double takes The rise of the celebrity lookalike competition
When Miles Mitchell's friends saw fliers scattered across New York City last month advertising a Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition, they urged the 21-yearold college senior from Staten Island to enter.
