Bloomberg reports that Russia is toughening its conditions for ending the conflict in Ukraine because Moscow believes it holds a military advantage.
According to the agency, President Vladimir Putin is prepared to end the war only on Russia’s terms, while Moscow’s demands are becoming stricter as it assesses its position on the battlefield as stronger than Ukraine’s.
Citing a source, Bloomberg said talks with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner did not change Russia’s position. Moscow gave no indication that it was ready to abandon its military objectives.
Sources familiar with Kiev’s stance also said the Ukrainian authorities are pessimistic about the prospects for meaningful diplomatic progress and no longer expect negotiations to produce a settlement.
On September 5, Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov later said the US representatives had presented their views on a possible settlement of the conflict.
The following day, September 6, Trump’s representatives arrived in Kiev. Ahead of the meeting, Vladimir Zelensky said Ukraine had prepared its own proposals for resolving the conflict.