The summit did not unlock the impasse. Crimea, born and geopolitical interests remain the central nodes that freeze the agreement between Kiev and Moscow
In the aftermath of the Washington summitin which the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders discussed with Donald Trump Regarding the possible resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, numerous doubts and obstacles remain on the path of peace.
Weapons, guarantees and territories: the clash points between Moscow and Kiev
On the question of military supplies, in yesterday’s summit Zelensky illustrated a proposal to the American counterpart, or the purchase of US armaments for an amount of approximately 100 billion dollarsfinanced by Europe. In addition, a 50 billion dollar agreement is expected for the joint production of drones between Ukrainian and American companies.
This proposal aims to create an industrial and defensive support network strictly linked to western interests, a fact that will certainly not genius to Russia, which has always declared the “Neutralization” of Ukraine as one of the founding objectives of military invasion.
So here is another critical point of the next Russian-Ukraine negotiations: that of security guarantees. Zelensky highlighted that Ukraine aspires to have a robust army, equipped with western weapons, accompanied by one Mission of European Peacekeeping under Coordination of the United States and from security guarantees similar to those ofitem 5 of NATO (that relating to collective defense).
In a morning interview with Fox News, Donald Trump said today that the United States does not intend to deploy troops in Ukraine, limiting themselves to providing any air support, but that Germany, France and the United Kingdom instead want to send military contingents to Ukraine.
For Moscow this has always been an insurmountable red line. Also yesterday, the spokesman of the Russian Foreign Minister, Maria Zakharovasaid that “The presence of contingents born in Ukraine is unacceptable and represents a threat of uncontrolled escalations». Send western troops to Ukraine, while providing security guarantees equal to those of NATO partners would actually be equivalent to Kiev’s entry into the alliancedifficult to think that Moscow accepts these terms.
Then there is the theme of the control of the territories. Zelensky confirmed that “Ukraine will not accept land sales that compromise national integrity“, Recalling article 73 of the Constitution that imposes a referendum for any changes in the borders. After yesterday’s summit, however, The Ukrainian president seems to have softened his position and accepted the fact that an exchange of territories will be therebut he said he will have to be “proportional”.
The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine
Of the four regions illegally annexed by Russia in September 2022, Moscow controls almost the entire region of Luhanskwhere Russian troops have more control of more than 99% of the territory. In the Oblast of Donetskwhere he has fought more in recent months, The Russian army came to check about 75% of the region.
With regard to Kherson And Zaporiziahere too Moscow controls roughly the 75% of the territories, the Russian armed forces also occupied small border areas in the regions of Sumy And Kharkov (about 400 square kilometers), as well as some village in the region of Dnipropetrovsk. Overall, about 20% of the Ukrainian territory is now occupied by Moscow, including Crimea.
While the negotiations go on, the war continues, in the night the Russian aerospace forces hit one of the main Ukrainian refineries in the city of Kremenchug, destroying it, while along the contact line of over a thousand kilometers the war of position continues to claim victims.
