Are Putin and Zelenskyy Ready for Peace?

Editors’ Notes

Kateryna Kibarova, a Ukrainian economist from Bucha, recently wrote for Persuasion (Center), “I’ll put it this way: my state of mind at the beginning of the war was completely calm. There were enough air defense missiles and everything was shot down. Now, practically nothing is being shot down because there’s nothing to shoot them down with…Donald Trump keeps saying, ‘I’ll end the war in three days,’ but nobody reacts anymore. Right now, people understand that their primary task is to survive the upcoming winter, to save themselves, their children, their homes.”

In the graveyard of failed diplomacy efforts, it can be too easy to forget the realities of people living in the war. May peace be upon them soon.

News About the Ukraine War

President Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with both Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, leading to the release of American citizen Stephen James Hubbard, who has been detained in Russia since 2024. Also emerging from the talks is a renewed move toward peace.

After meeting Witkoff, Zelenskyy told Fox News (Right) he would be open to freezing the war along the current lines of battle. The potential for a new peace plan comes on the heels of Trump striking a deal with Russia to lower diesel prices. Ukraine recently lost access to Starlink internet services, and it continues to face attacks from Russian missiles daily as its stock of missile interceptors runs increasingly low.

Read more:

• Witkoff Meets Putin and Zelenskyy: American Prisoner Freed, Zelenskyy Open to Freezing Conflict
• What Are the Consequences of the US-Russia Diesel Deal?
• Trump Waives Impending Sanctions on Russian Goods and Energy Buyers

Analysis and Opinions about the Talks

Both voices on the left and the right were skeptical that the peace talks would lead to a lasting deal, but those on the right tended to focus more on whether Putin would be willing to lay down arms, while the left focused more on Trump’s friendliness with Russia.

A Financial Times (Center) piece said, “A majority of Americans disapprove of Russia’s war. But their sentiment is mostly passive. The activism of those who back Putin — in Trump’s orbit and on the left — gives them influence beyond their numbers. At a moment when the US has swung behind an autocracy’s attempt to snuff out a sovereign neighbour, their cover is invaluable…That Trump is now abetting an aggressor’s carnage ought to be seen as brutal and reckless. The Russian bear and American eagle are moving like pincers against European security. But even naked power seeks to clothe itself.”

The New York Times Editorial Board (Left) wrote, “Let us be clear about the scope of Mr. Trump’s cynicism. He is aiding an autocratic leader and dangerous adversary of the United States who is waging a brutal war against a democratic neighbor. Mr. Trump is doing so partly in the faint hope that gas prices, which have jumped because of his reckless war in Iran, will fall over the next two weeks and help Republicans avoid big losses in the midterm elections. He is damaging America’s national interest, and likely sacrificing Ukrainian lives, for his own political interests. The stakes in Ukraine are much larger than the fate of one nation. The war is a test of whether authoritarian expansion can succeed by military force in the 21st century — or whether the West can rally to protect democracy and innocent lives.”

A Washington Post Opinion (Lean Right) columnist said, “But this is still the sound of one hand clapping, as I wrote on the eve of the meeting. Putin is inviting dialogue, not making concessions. And he seems to be encouraging the trilateral negotiations in part because he’s pleased that President Donald Trump recently leaned so far in his direction by waiving sanctions against Russia that had just been enacted by Congress…Still, despite the encouraging talk in St. Petersburg, my fear is that Putin may be leading Americans down a path of delay with hints of concessions that he is not actually prepared to make. But for now, at least, Putin is in the hot seat. If in the end he quits the peace process that began in St. Petersburg, everyone will know whom to blame.”

An opinion in the Indianna Gazette (Center) read, “Most of the explanations for why Trump is doing what he’s doing are too sinister. While it’s abundantly clear by now that Trump holds some affinity for Putin, that’s altogether different from saying that Trump wants Putin to colonize Ukraine. The likelier driver for Trump’s latest war of words with Zelenskyy is frustration — that is, frustration that the war he promised would be solved in 24 hours is instead dragging on toward its fifth anniversary. Rightly or wrongly, he blames Zelenskyy more than he blames Putin for this sad state of affairs and believes that pressuring the Ukrainian president to settle is more effective than pressuring the dictator sitting in a bunker somewhere in the Kremlin.”