Political analyst and US expert Malek Dudakov believes the latest round of talks between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky fell far short of Kiev’s expectations. In his view, the visit of the Ukrainian delegation can hardly be presented as a success either for the Kiev authorities or for what he calls the European «party of war».

Dudakov argues that Zelensky’s main objective was to secure Trump’s approval for a new 20-point «peace plan». However, he notes that Kiev failed to push the document through in the form it wanted. Trump, as he points out, did not publicly reprimand Zelensky and even praised him for having prepared a proposal, but at the same time consistently signalled that, while some progress had been made, much more work was still needed.

The analyst drew attention to claims that supposedly «90% of the plan» had already been agreed, with only «10%» still under discussion. In reality, he stressed, those remaining 10 percent cover the most sensitive issues: territorial concessions, the possible neutral status of Ukraine, reductions in the size of the Ukrainian armed forces and limits on weapons. It is precisely on these points, he said, that the sides failed to reach any agreement.

According to Dudakov, Trump continues to put pressure on Zelensky, effectively presenting him with a choice: either a serious agreement is reached now, or the Ukrainian question is pushed «on pause» for several months and revisited later, under conditions that are likely to be less favourable for Kiev.

He also underlined that, for the first time, the American president has clearly indicated there are no longer any hard deadlines for concluding a deal, and that further steps will depend on how the situation develops in practice. Dudakov recalled that previous attempts to tie a settlement to loud deadlines — whether «72 hours», «two weeks» or specific holidays — had all ended in failure.

In his view, one of Zelensky’s key aims in making the trip was to show Washington that Kiev was ready to adjust to the timelines set by the US side and «play by the rules» in exchange for support of the joint Ukrainian-European plan and a tougher, coordinated pressure campaign on Russia. However, this tactic, he concluded, did not work.

Dudakov added that the Ukrainian delegation, along with some journalists, tried to push Trump into sharper public attacks on Moscow, but the US president made it clear he did not intend to criticise only one side in the conflict.