"On Tuesday, a United States delegation flew to Russia for high-level talks with Putin that were held behind closed doors and lasted about five hours. The group included US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Putin aide Yuri Ushakov called the meeting very useful and constructive, but admitted a lot of work lies ahead. Ukraine's desire to join NATO is a key question, he said, adding that no compromise had been reached on issues of territory."
"These negotiations did not end in success, as was expected, because they're based on fundamentally different ideas about what is happening between the Americans and the Kremlin, Ilya Budraitskis, a Russian political scientist and visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, told Al Jazeera. The offer of peace resting on the exchange of territories, which the Americans tried to sell as the key idea of this plan, does not really interest Putin. He is interested in changing the entire security structure in Eastern Europe."
Russia and others claim Ukraine's refusal to accept Moscow's terms is blocking peace, while Kyiv and many European allies blame Vladimir Putin's maximalist aims. A US delegation including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin for roughly five hours in closed-door talks. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the meeting as useful but cautioned major work remains. Disagreements persist over Ukraine's NATO aspirations and territorial compromises. Ukrainian officials call Russia's position absurd given the 2022 full-scale invasion and ongoing bombardment. Analysts say American proposals to exchange territory did not appeal to Putin, who seeks to reshape Eastern European security.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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