War of nerves instead of progress: diplomat explains the real state of peace talks
As of today, peace talks to end the war are in a phase of so-called "war of nerves," during which the parties are not moving towards specific decisions but are trying to find the lowest common denominator for further contacts. This assessment was expressed on Radio NV by Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, former representative of Ukraine to the European Union in 2010–2015.
Commenting on the postponement of the trilateral meeting of the delegations of Ukraine, the United States and Russia in Abu Dhabi, the diplomat suggested that the American side had taken a break to hold separate consultations in Miami with Kirill Dmitriev, the representative of the Russian side. According to Yeliseyev, such contacts have already taken place, and now the Ukrainian side is preparing for a new stage of consultations or meetings, where the topic of ending the war will be raised again.
Yeliseyev described the meeting between US representatives and the Russian delegation on 31 January in Miami as an "additional track" in which the parties tried to determine whether at least a limited joint approach was possible. At the same time, he stressed that it is too early to talk about real progress, and called the public statements by US Special Representative Steve Witkoff about the constructiveness of the negotiations part of a political game.
According to Yeliseyev, the current negotiation process has unpredictable dynamics and is largely a game of time. He noted that all parties — in Washington, Kyiv and, probably, in the Kremlin — are taking into account domestic political factors in the US, in particular the midterm elections to be held in the autumn. This, he said, is what influences the pace and format of the negotiations.
Separately, the diplomat expressed concern that the negotiations are taking place without the full participation of European allies, which complicates the protection of Ukrainian interests. In his assessment, what is currently taking place is more of a mutual assessment of positions and a search for the "lowest common denominator" on the basis of which it will theoretically be possible to build a future peace agreement.
At the same time, Yeliseyev stressed that the sign of the start of truly serious negotiations will be the full involvement of the US State Department and its head, Mark Rubio. For now, he said, the dialogue is being conducted mainly by informal representatives of President Donald Trump — Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who are only looking for possible points of contact. Only after that, the former ambassador predicts, will official structures, in particular the US State Department and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, be able to move on to working out a potential peace agreement.
Peace talks, war of nerves, Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev, US-Ukraine-Russia talks, diplomacy
