Witkoff Concedes 'Work to Do' as Putin Slows Ukraine Peace — SkimNews
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- Steve Witkoff shuttled between Oslo talks with Zelensky and European representatives and a St Petersburg meeting with Putin; Norway's PM called the Oslo session "good and constructive" while Witkoff conceded on X that "there is still important work to do"
- Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness to meet Zelensky outside Moscow; the Kremlin says it may resume only technical-level trilateral talks next month in Abu Dhabi
- Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, told Russian state TV that Witkoff's presentation offered nothing "useful" for resolving the Ukraine crisis and admitted, "I don't know how close we are getting" to peace
- Donald Trump has in recent days paused some sanctions on Moscow, agreed to buy Russian diesel, and expressed "biting criticism" of Zelensky — moves Russia's MP Evgeny Popov credits with giving Putin diplomatic breathing room
- Russia is leveraging Ukraine's strained air defenses and approaching winter to maintain military pressure rather than negotiate in earnest, Rosenberg's analysis concludes
- Some Russian commentators are already dubbing a likely Putin-Trump-Xi meeting at next month's APEC summit in China as "The New Yalta" — a comparison Rosenberg notes would seat Putin "exactly where he wants to be — at the top table of global politics"
Why it matters: Trump's sanctions pause, diesel purchase, and Zelensky criticism give Putin exactly what he needs: zero pressure to negotiate while Ukraine's air defenses crack under winter strain. A Putin-Trump-Xi APEC summit — already being called 'The New Yalta' — would seat Moscow at the top table Russia has sought since 1945.
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