by ZeroHedge News Staff at ZeroHedge
The Russian-US negotiations on the Ukraine conflict concluded in the Kremlin after some five hours of intense negotiations, which had reportedly gone late into the night. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov indicated the US side of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner presented four more documents concerning the peace settlement during the Kremlin talks; however, a sticking point remains territory.
“Some American proposals are acceptable to Russia, while others are not,” the aide stated bluntly. Crucially he at one point responded to a question of whether peace had become closer or further following these talks, to which Ushakov responded, “Definitely not further.”
“Territorial issues were discussed specifically, without which we do not see a resolution of the crisis,” Ushakov told reporters immediately after the meeting. “Of course, the enormous prospects for future economic co-operation between the two countries were also discussed.”
This latter point of cooperation between the US and Russia has “vast potential” – Ushakov said, suggesting the Kremlin doesn’t see the peace deal as where it wants it to be in terms of territorial settlement. The US-backed draft peace plan offers that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk would be recognized “as de facto Russian, including by the United States.” However, Ukraine and other countries would not need to recognize Russian control by law, but Moscow legally sees them as part of the Russian Federation after the wartime ‘popular referendums’ held in the fall of 2022.
The draft also calls to freeze the front lines of fighting where they…
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