“Trump’s blitzkrieg has failed.” Why did the special representative of the US president-elect Kellogg postpone his trip to Kyiv – Leonov

The executive director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Research, Oleksandr Leonov, suggested on Radio NV that this is due to the fact that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, gave an emotional, hour-long interview to the American podcaster Lex Friedman:

“Indeed, there is such a correlation, because after the interview, the visit is postponed. But, it seems to me, the main reason is that, in fact, this is an admission that Donald Trump’s blitzkrieg against Ukraine has failed. This is the final recognition that it is simply impossible to solve the problem of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 24 hours.”

The expert was convinced that before the inauguration, Trump would want to come to some kind of draft agreement, a truce, so that he could say about it during his first speech in office.

“But everything indicates that there is still no understanding of how to force Russia to sit down at the negotiating table, because [російський диктатор Володимир] Putin says things that are clearly the opposite. Putin actually says that he needs the surrender of Ukraine. And under these conditions, it is obviously difficult to somehow think about how to work further.”

If Putin continues to refuse negotiations, then, Leonov predicts, Trump will have to use the powers he doesn’t have yet, such as those related to sanctions or oil prices, to put pressure on him.

Prospects of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine – what is known

On November 20, the Reuters agency wrote that Putin is ready to discuss a cease-fire agreement with Donald Trump in Ukraine, but rejects any significant territorial concessions and insists that Kyiv abandon its ambitions to join NATO.

He also claimed that the aggressor country is supposedly always ready for “negotiations” and “compromises” with regard to Ukraine. Before that, he made it clear that he would not agree to freezing the war.

On December 20, The Washington Post wrote that Trump will meet Putin in 2025. However, analysts believe that there is little hope for a peace agreement given Putin’s maximalist position and Trump’s fear of looking weak if he makes concessions to the Russian Federation.

On December 26, Putin said that Slovakia could become a “negotiating platform” for negotiations with Ukraine. At the same time, the dictator rejected “Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine, which includes Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO for 10 years, according to ISW analysts.

Zelenskyi stated that Ukraine does not yet have enough strength to regain the borders of 1991. The state is ready to return, in particular, Crimea through diplomatic channels.