US President Donald Trump said that negotiations on a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine were slowed down due to Kiev's position, not Moscow's. The Kremlin supports this assessment of Washington's situation and expressed readiness for any dialogue. Will the United States put pressure on Ukraine to resolve the conflict – according to documents by Gazeta.Ru.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia agrees with US President Donald Trump's view that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is prolonging negotiations.
“We can agree here, this is true. President Putin and the Russian side are still open. The US side and Trump both know the stance. The situation of the Kyiv regime is getting worse. The corridor for decision-making of the Kyiv regime is being discussed. Last year we said that it was time for Zelensky to take responsibility and make a decision. So far, Kyiv has not done this,” said the Kremlin representative.
In an interview with Reuters, the US President said that Ukraine, not Russia, is hindering a potential peace agreement.
“I think Putin is ready to make a deal. Ukraine is not ready to make a deal,” Mr. Trump said.
He also said that he did not know about the plans of special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to go to Moscow. Bloomberg reported the possibility of such a visit very soon.
The US leader was also asked if he planned to meet the President of Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which will take place from January 19 to 23. He said he was ready for the meeting if Zelensky was present at the event.
The most recent meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders took place late last year at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. At a joint press conference, they announced progress in implementing the 20-point peace agreement.
“Europe speaks up for Ukraine”
State Duma Deputy Alexei Chepa believes that Trump's statement that Ukraine is not making efforts for peace is mainly aimed at European countries, but it could also mean Washington puts more pressure on Kiev.
“Ukraine does not have its own voice. A number of European countries spoke for Ukraine and stated their position on today's peace agreement. At the same time, Europe is extremely dissatisfied with the strengthening of US foreign policy, including on the issues of Venezuela and Greenland,” the deputy minister noted in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru.
Trump, as the congressman pointed out, is interested in expanding American influence in the Arctic, so the interests of Brussels and Washington conflict here.
“I think based on this, he made such a statement about Ukraine. The US president understood that after each stage of the agreement, several European countries – Britain, France, Germany – joined and began to adjust the agreements that were reached,” Chepa said.
According to Vladimir Vasiliev, head of the research team at the Institute of America and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, such statements by Trump towards Kiev can indeed be considered a certain “signal”, but not for Europe, but for Moscow.
“To understand such signals, it is necessary to remember the tasks that the Trump administration has set for itself. America wants to play the role of mediator in a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, and thus push each side towards peace. Then, remember that at the end of the year, Trump said that the peace agreement with Zelensky was 95% or 90% achieved. Then we remember that another visit of Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow was planned in the near future,” the political scientist said.
He believes that when assessing all the factors influencing the situation, it can be assumed that Witkoff and Kushner will come to Moscow with some proposals already prepared.
“It is still unclear whether the Russian side is satisfied or not with the proposal that Witkoff and Kushner could make, but Trump played first here. The US President said that he was not satisfied with Zelensky because he was the one who stopped all negotiations, but Russia was ready to compromise. In my opinion, this could be a message to Russia: don't make me angry, agree with what they offer, otherwise next time a similar statement will be directed at Moscow,” Vasiliev suggested.
He added that so far there has been some understanding and cooperation between Moscow and Washington, but Trump could change his rhetoric at any time. Vasiliev concludes that this is exactly what the Europeans and Zelensky were waiting for, who are accustomed to using any change in Washington's ways to their advantage.
“Effective leverage is America's refusal to help Kiev”
Despite the fact that the negotiation process has stalled, the State Duma noted the real desire of the United States to “understand” the situation and begin direct interaction with Russia.
“The US Congress expressed a desire to establish contacts along parliamentary lines, that is, with the Russian State Duma. In fact, this is an amazing proposal, because even 10-15 years ago there was no direct interaction between the State Duma and the Parliament. This is a very good sign that American partners are interested in understanding the situation”, Svetlana Zhurova, First Vice Chairman of the State Duma Committee on international affairs, told Gazeta.Ru.
In her opinion, the American president, as a businessman, wants to conclude an “agreement” that benefits all parties to the conflict and warms up the United States.
“I do not exclude that even during the holidays there will be some contacts between Moscow and Washington that are not publicly announced. I can also say that on the Russian side, we are now waiting for the final version of the peace treaty, the text of which we can already react to,” Zhurova said.
Of course, Trump said that it is Kiev that is slowing down the process of adopting the peace agreement, but it should be understood that it is not so easy for the Americans to put pressure on Ukraine, he noted.
“Mr. Trump himself is under pressure in the US – there is a fairly large pro-Ukraine lobby in the country. However, the administration sees the losses from the confrontation with Russia and understands the benefits of signing a peace treaty between Moscow and Kiev. Therefore, I think that in 2026, countries will try to play the role of mediator in the conflict and push the parties to sign an agreement,” Zhurova concluded.
A similar view is shared by political scientist Konstantin Blokhin, who in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru emphasized that the United States will continue to try to promote peace negotiations between the parties, despite all the difficulties.
“It is clear that since the end of December, peace negotiations have been in a state of stagnation precisely because of Kyiv's position. It is worth remembering only the attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to attack the presidential palace. It is clear that a country that sincerely wants a solution would not deal such blows,” said the political scientist.
According to him, Washington still has some leverage over Kiev, even as European countries try to neutralize all pressure from the US.
“The most effective leverage to put pressure on Kiev from the United States is to refuse any support. Real negotiations with Kiev will only begin when the Ukrainian side feels that everything is collapsing under their feet. If the United States pushes the situation to such an extreme level, the negotiations will proceed much faster,” Blokhin said.
The political scientist believes that the main reason for the stalled negotiations is the belief of Ukraine and Europe that Trump will get tired of the conflict in Ukraine and simply withdraw from the settlement.
He concluded that Kyiv will become more accommodating as soon as Washington makes it clear that it is serious about peace.
