The impossible respite: Putin does not stop and Zelensky cannot accept the conditions

Henry Kissinger, Sacred monster of modern diplomatic history, he said: « The negotiator who thinks of solving the dispute thanks to his position and personality will soon find himself in the special purgatory that history reserves for those who measure themselves on the basis of words instead of the facts ». David Ignatius on Washington Post He writes that this should be a warning for Trump.

From its «I will make the agreement between Moscow and Kiev in 24 hours»To date More than 100 days have passed And not only the peace according to everyone is far away, but also if it could to sit at the Vladimir Putin table There is no guarantee that can be durable.

Restoning the ribbon of the last few months, the steps are many. Trump and Putin spoke on the phone on three occasions, The correspondent Steve Witkoff He spoken with Moscow 4 times. And for the first time since 2022 a Russian delegation sat in front of a Ukraine. This is said, one might think of a step forward compared to glacial silence along the Washington-Kiev-chero axis of the biden era.

But The new White House does not seem to have a precise plan: before he proposed A ceased fire limited to energy infrastructure and maritime sectors without getting anything. Then the Trump team asked the two parts to put their requests on the table but the proposals were so far from each other that Trump’s councilors must have thought the face of the face to face was better. To speak though – – It is the basic rule of diplomacy – The fire is necessary first, they pointed out both Kiev and the European allies.

And so the proposal of a ceased of 30 days came from Washington. The Tsar has relaunched twice: the first with a 30 -hour truce at Easter After the Palm Sunday raid in Sumy in which more than 30 people died; then he called a second cease the fire of three days in occasion of the parade for the victory. Finally, in the face of the ultimatum of the European allies, he reappeared at two in the morning launching on the plate the possibility of a face to face in Istanbul who then refusedby sending a delegation to Türkiye with the sole mandate to allow an exchange of prisoners (one thousand per thousand compared to everyone for everyone as he had instead asked for the Ukrainian counterpart). A bluffing from inveterate poker playerthat Trump is following.

To the west, however, everyone has been repeating it for days now: the leader of the Kremlin has no intention of stopping. Putin continues to reiterate his requests (Recognition of the annexation of Crimea, annexation of the 4 employed territories including those who do not fully control, not at the entrance of Kiev in NATO, surrender of Ukraine and his demilitarization). In practice, he wants to take the dish home. He has a couple in his hand, the Donetsk and Lugansk, and makes you believe he has a double with Kherson and Zaporizhzia who, however, does not fully control and therefore does not have.

And Zelensky? The US President said to him contemptuously several times: « You don’t have cards in hand. » But that’s not exactly the case. Yesterday – writes Axios – the European allies said they were shocked by the deference shown by Trump against Putin. The « willing » are keeping the point and are alongside Kiev. They have launched a new package of sanctions and speak of a common army because they know that if Ukraine should fall under Russian control, The balance of the whole old continent would be distorted. And they look with concern to strengthening the foundations on the border with Finland and Baltic states and the sabotage campaign in the countries of Eastern Europe.

On the other hand, In Kiev they are collaborating with Washington on an economic levelwell aware how Trump keeps the topic (in this sense, the signature of the agreement on the rare lands and on the opening yesterday of Zelensky to a free trade area with the USA) is to be read). And not only. Ukrainians are defending themselves with homemade drones who have brought the Russian fleet into the Black Sea on their knees. All without buying weapons from anyone: that is, with the possibility of propose a tomorrow as a new useful weapon production hub to the whole West to face the threats from the East. Ignatius writes: «Trump has the opportunity to contribute to the mediation of an agreement that would end the most violent conflict of our time. But if it does not find the patience of a hard and well organized negotiation with Putin, Ukraine will have no choice but to get by itself, leaving a black stain instead of a medal to Trump ». The choice to him.