US, Russia may freeze Ukraine talks until Zelenskyy, allies agree on Trump envoy's package

After downgrading the level of representation at the London talks on Wednesday, some experts in Moscow do not rule out the possibility that the Kremlin and White House may freeze their negotiations on the Ukraine peace deal until Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and western European leaders agree to cede Crimea.

The London meet on Ukraine was downgraded to expert-level after US state secretary Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s West Asia envoy Steve Witkoff cancelled their visit, following which the foreign ministers of France and Germany also did not turn up.

According to the Lenta.ru news portal, banned in the European Union and Switzerland, the Kremlin could be ready to put the Ukraine issue on the backburner and move ahead on bilateral and West Asian issues, including the Iran nuclear talks.

Quoting Kremlin pool reporter Alexander Yumashev, the Lenta.ru portal in its commentary writes, “I assume that all further negotiations will be, if not frozen, then held in a sluggish format. In any case, Zelenskyy still holds his post."

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Ukraine crisis is very complicated and cannot be resolved overnight. He urged all parties concerned not to be carried away by “leaks” of details of the Trump peace plan in Western media. He said the Kremlin will announce the plan when Witkoff comes to Russia.

“Trump’s new peace plan to resolve the Ukrainian crisis is a harbinger of the US withdrawal from the conflict,” Izvestia daily writes.

It noted that Washington is working on another initiative, which the American leader should soon present regarding the issue of a peacekeeping force to monitor the ceasefire — a “joint commission” with the participation of Russia, Ukraine and a third country that is not a member of NATO as Russia is categorically against the deployment of forces from any NATO country in Ukraine.