The Rocky Road To A Ukraine Deal

(MENAFN- Asia Times) The trump administration probably cannot negotiate a comprehensive deal for Ukraine immediately and will need to come up with an initial solution to try and halt the fighting. Doing so is a rocky road ahead, partly because the Russians have zero trust in anything coming from the West, partly because the Ukrainians are unwilling partners and partly because Europe wants to continue the war.

President Trump in an interview with the New York Post acknowledges he has had at least one telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and doesn't rule out that there were more. The Kremlin has neither confirmed nor denied that calls have taken place, but officially Russia says it has not received any proposals from the US side.

Meanwhile, the US is sending Vice President J.D. Vance and retired General Keith Kellogg to the Munich Security Conference. Zelensky will also attend the meeting, Kellogg says that he is preparing“options” for President Trump but won't reveal them at the Munich conference.

It is not clear what can be accomplished in Munich. In fact, US high level participation at the Munich conference could actually set back any deal with Russia, as America's European colleagues are pushing for more war, not less. (Of course, the Europeans expect America to keep footing the bill for the conflict.)

Russia sees little or no reason to bargain with Zelensky or with the Europeans. Putin, however, clearly favors negotiating with the United States. Apparently Putin thinks the only possible deal will be between Russia and the US, if a deal can be found.

On the battlefield the Ukrainians have thrown in additional reserves to battle in Kursk, but as it looks right now, after some initial gains, the Ukrainian offensive is being rolled back. Elsewhere Ukraine also is trying to hold onto key towns, Chasiv Yar and Pokrovsk, by using additional troops to hold positions in both locations. It is too soon to know if the Russian advance, slow and plodding as it is, can be halted. But Ukraine is trying hard to reverse its multiple defeats on the battlefield and is now using its F-16s for the first time in support of front-line operations.-

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An image published by the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, on his Telegram channel shows damaged homes in the town of Sudzha Photo: Governor of Kursk region

In all, Ukraine is trying to buy time and prevent a major breakout by Russia that could spell a rout for Ukraine's defenses. Zelensky's problem is twofold:

He is losing soldiers at a high rate, including allegedly thousands of deserters.
He can no longer rely on huge deliveries of weapons from the US, the lack of which will inevitably further weaken Ukraine's fighting ability.

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