UK splits with France and Italy over Putin talks
Politico5 days
Ukraine has never been a stumbling block in the way of peace. It is the barrage of Russian drones and missiles that repeatedly targets Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, namely its energy facilities. Doing so in the middle of these winter conditions, it's clear that Putin has no goal other than to terrorize Ukrainian civilians. Pressure needs to be applied so he's finally ready to take negotiations seriously.
Russia believes it is essential to continue the dialogue with the U.S. on Ukraine, particularly as the U.S. has had several rounds of discussions with Ukrainian and European officials in recent weeks. It is important that Russia is able to express its views on these matters also so it expects that the special envoys of President Trump will soon be making their way.
Europe is in favor of restoring relations with Russia — but it's not quite there yet. Namely, because one man by the name of Putin continues to stand in the way of making any meaningful progress towards a Ukraine peace deal. Europe can theorize about the future but there's no indication that Putin is serious about peace at this stage.
There's a 50% chance there will be a bilateral ceasefire or peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine by March 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
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