Witkoff-Kushner Peace Push Stalls; Putin Holds Leverage — SkimNews
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- Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow for talks with Putin, then to Kyiv where Zelensky said the pair presented "worthwhile ideas," but the source argues no deal will materialize before the November midterms.
- Putin has refocused Russia's military on capturing the remaining Donetsk fortress towns — Kramatorsk and Sloviansk — after the Anchorage-summit compromise on shared control stalled, with estimates ranging from the end of this year through 2027 for full seizure.
- Russia is making fresh advances in Kharkiv and Sumy Oblasts after previously signaling willingness to trade those pockets, while improvements in Russian tank armor technology are "starting to gradually blunt" the effectiveness of Ukraine's drone defense.
- European leaders remain publicly opposed to compromise — former MI6 chief John Sawers said peace talks are "inconceivable" while Putin holds power, and Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski argued there should be no renewed dialogue until Russia's strategic position weakens.
- Ukraine's deep strikes on Russian oil refineries caused gasoline shortages and shifted Putin's domestic popularity downward, though the source notes Russia retains the manpower, financial reserves, and industrial base to outlast Ukraine and Europe.
- PM Modi renewed his call at the Shanghai Cooperation Meeting in Bishkek for Putin to move from "an endless war to the end to the war," the same venue where it was revealed 51 Indian nationals recruited into Russia's armed forces have been killed since fighting began.
- Zelensky faces mounting pressure to step aside amid corruption scandals and vocal opposition from key Ukrainian figures including former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov — one of Putin's two stated preconditions for any deal.
Why it matters: With peace unlikely before November midterms, Trump loses a potential political win while Putin's forces grind toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk — and European leaders like Poland's Sikorski publicly refuse compromise until Russia's strategic position weakens, a dynamic the source says Trump cannot break because the Iran war has already shredded his standing in Europe.
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