US negotiators met with their Russian counterparts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Monday morning to discuss a potential ceasefire and peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. They came away with neither.
Talks focused on creating safe commercial shipping lanes in the Black Sea. Initially, on Tuesday, even that appeared to have failed. Vladimir Chizhov, told Russian media that no agreement would be announced given Ukraine’s position.”
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Yet again, Moscow is trying to drive a wedge between Washington and Kyiv by placing the blame on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The White House ignored it. Team Trump released its own statement declaring that the “United States and Russia have agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.”
These so-called ceasefire negotiations are more about reestablishing US-Russia relations than they are about resolving the war in Ukraine.
Essentially, it mirrored a similar statement regarding the outcome of the US and Ukraine Expert Groups’ meetings in Saudi Arabia.
Late Tuesday, the Kremlin fired back. It claimed that the Black Sea ceasefire will not “come into force” until after sanctions are lifted.
Let’s be honest. Team Putin – as we warned in the Washington DC publication The Hill – is playing Team Trump for time. These so-called ceasefire negotiations are more about reestablishing US-Russia relations than they are about resolving the war in Ukraine. Safe commercial shipping lanes in the Black Sea do nothing to stop Russia from attacking Ukraine.
Putin Admits Russian Troops ‘Can’t Raise Their Heads’ Because of Ukrainian Drones
For Russia, this is a delaying tactic to buy time in order to expand Putin’s war against Ukraine in the spring; for Washington, future business transactions are at stake. Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump have made that crystal clear.
Rubio enthusiastically praised the “extraordinary opportunities,” economic and geopolitical, that both countries could seize once the war in Ukraine was over. Trump added he was “trying to do some economic development deals” with Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin fully understands Trump and how to play to his considerable ego.
Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told Tucker Carlson on his podcast this past weekend that Putin prayed for “his friend” after the first attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. And when he returned from Moscow, he presented the US president with a painting of Trump that Putin commissioned from a Russian artist as a gift.
In February, Putin praised Trump’s US delegation in Riyadh for not criticizing Russia as previous administrations had done, adding that beyond geopolitics, the two countries were moving toward deeper engagement on space, the economy and “our joint work on global energy markets.” Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov added: “There was great interest… in removing artificial barriers to the development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation.”
Rubio took the bait and said an end to the war would be “the key that unlocks the door” for “potentially historic economic partnerships.” But that requires Russia to stop attacking Ukraine, and for Ukraine to stop resisting.
The fallacy now is that there is some sort of “ceasefire” in Ukraine – and that Russia is adhering to it while Zelensky continues to resist.
What Putin agreed to last week during his phone call with Trump was “to refrain from attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days.” He did not agree to commit to a full, unconditional 30-day cease-fire. Zelensky did.
And he did not “refrain” for long either. Within hours of the phone call, Russia launched an airstrike on the energy infrastructure of Slovyansk and the railway power system in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
It is abundantly clear that Putin is not interested in a Western version of peace. For him, peace is defined as Ukraine no longer resisting.
The next day, Russia deliberately attacked the Sudzha gas metering station in the Kursk Oblast in what was likely a false flag operation – an attempt to discredit Kyiv for violating the “agreement” to not attack energy infrastructure.
It is abundantly clear that Putin is not interested in a Western version of peace. For him, peace is defined as Ukraine no longer resisting – and increasingly, the Trump Administration, wittingly or unwittingly, has set conditions for that to happen by withholding weapons, ammunition, and intelligence from the Ukrainian military.
Zelensky and his generals are in the way, and Putin is doing everything he can to convince Team Trump to remove him from the equation – especially since Russia’s military is incapable of making that happen.
What Putin’s army cannot achieve on the battlefield – a decisive victory – they seek by targeting Ukrainian civilians and their culture – also known as genocide. Over the past week they bombed civilian targets in Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv. On Monday, it was Sumy where at least 101 people, including 23 children, were injured. The targets included 26 buildings – including schools, a kindergarten, a hospital, and 16 residential buildings.
Yet the Trump Administration – led by Witkoff – continues a campaign to undermine Zelensky while trying to change the narrative about Putin, the war he started, and his efforts to eradicate Ukraine. They portray the Ukrainian President as a corrupt illegitimate leader, who does not want peace, and who brings leaders to Ukraine for “propaganda tours” to raise funds.
Witkoff went as far as to say: “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy” and described him as smart, gracious, and straightforward. During his podcast with Carlson, he added that progress was being made with Russia “that no one thought was possible.”
Yes – that Putin. As the world awaits the International Criminal Court to execute his arrest warrant for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, his military continues to attack Ukrainian population centers, schools, markets, residential neighborhoods, churches, hospitals, and shopping centers with ballistic missile and drone strikes.
Putin has complete disregard for his soldiers as well. The Russian army continues to attack despite a Ukrainian military that inflicts over 1,000 casualties a day in the close fight; 905,940 total since the so-called “special military operation” began three years ago. In contrast, after 10 years of fighting in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union acknowledged 13,310 soldiers were killed, 35,478 wounded, and 311 missing in action.
Over the weekend, the Russian army suffered 1,210 casualties on Saturday, 1,470 on Sunday, and 1,280 on Monday.
The resilience of the Ukrainian military is steadfast and remarkable. Despite a narrative intended to depict Ukraine as “losing” the war, with “no cards to play,” and Trump saying Ukraine “may not survive,” over the past week they successfully struck Engels airbase – a major strategic bomber base where Russian Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers launch long-range missile strikes into Ukraine – and the Tuapse oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai with attack drones. Deep strikes intended to impact Russia’s ability to wage and finance their war.
Ukraine remains fully capable of defending their country and punishing Russia in the process.
In the close fight they liberated the Nadiya settlement in the Luhansk Oblast, advanced 1.5 kilometers into Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, and repelled a Russian “special forces” attack utilizing gas pipelines in Sudzha on March 9. Then on Monday, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces reportedly destroyed two Russian Ka-52 and two Mi-8 helicopters by missile strikes in the Belgorod Oblast.
Ukraine remains fully capable of defending their country and punishing Russia in the process. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia is withdrawing unspecified units from Ukraine after sustaining personnel losses over 50 percent, to include Gen. Aleksandr Lapin who was reportedly killed in Belgorod Oblast on March 25.
While brilliantly playing his Trump cards to achieve his end state, Putin is also a realist. Prior to his phone call with Trump on March 18, he held a private meeting with Russian businessmen at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Congress and reportedly told Russian businessmen to “prepare for a protracted war.” Putin told the businessmen that negotiations to end the war would be “slow and difficult.”
Team Trump needs to wake up to Russian “negotiation” tactics. That begins with relieving Witkoff of his duties and reinstating retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg. The first issue – demand – must be to stop the attacks, not safe shipping lanes in the Black Sea, not refraining from attacking energy infrastructure, not rare earth minerals deals, and not issues of the four “captured territories.” And if Russia will not stop the attacks – then enable Ukraine to stop the attacks. Better to deal with Putin’s successor than with Mad Vlad.
They should heed CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s recent testimony to Congress: “I want to say that with regard to the Ukrainian resistance, the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian military have been underestimated for a period of several years now… I’m convinced that they will fight with their bare hands if they have to, if they don’t have terms that are acceptable to an enduring peace.”
To borrow a line from President George H.W. Bush, “This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait [or now Ukraine].” Enable Ukraine to win.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
Copyright 2025. Jonathan E. Sweet and Mark C. Toth. All rights reserved.
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