13 March 2025
KEY MOMENTS
Russia is understood to have presented the US with a list of demands for a deal to end the war in Ukraine
The exact demands were not clear, though sources described them as broadly similar to those previously presented in relation to the US, Nato, and Ukraine.
They include no Nato membership for Kyiv, an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine and international recognition of Crimea and four Ukrainian provinces as Russian territory.
The US has been urging Russia to accept a peace proposal it gave to Moscow earlier this week, which would enact a ceasefire in the sky, air, and along the entire frontline.
Donald Trump threatened Russia with “devastating” financial punishment if it did not accept the proposal.
Vladimir Putin visited Kursk on Wednesday, his first visit to the region since it was invaded by Ukraine last August. It was his first public appearance since the US and Ukraine agreed terms for a 30-day ceasefire.
The Kremlin said this morning that its operation to push out Ukrainian forces in the region was in its “final stage”.
Top Trump negotiator expected in Moscow
Steve Witkoff, a senior negotiator in the Donald Trump administration, is expected in Moscow shortly.
Mr Witkoff is officially Mr Trump’s envoy for the Middle East but has taken a central role in negotiations around ending the war in Ukraine.
The billionaire real estate mogul previously travelled to Moscow to secure the release of Marc Fogel, an American teacher who had been jailed on drug charges.
Zelensky’s approval ratings continue to rise
Volodymyr Zelensky’s approval ratings are continuing to rise in Ukraine following his public spat with Donald Trump in the White House.
The Ukrainian president’s ratings now sit at 72%, up ten percentage points, according to the latest Ipsos/Economist poll.
Some 62% reject elections while the war is ongoing.
The rise comes after Mr Trump pressured Ukraine to hold elections and claimed Mr Zelensky’s approval ratings stood at four per cent – a key Russian line
What does Russia want from Ukraine?
Russia’s demands over the US, Ukraine, and Nato are nothing new.
In fact, some of them date back to 1945, according to Kori Schake, a former Pentagon official.
They include a ban on military exercises by US and other Nato forces on the territories of new alliance members, which would include Finland and Sweden.
Specifically on Ukraine, Putin wants Kyiv to drop its bid to join Nato and recognition that four territories annexed by Moscow at the start of the war are Russian.
It also wants Ukraine to remain a nuclear-free state.
What was the point of Jeddah? Maximum pressure on Ukraine; zero on the putler murder gang.
The dwarf nazi cocksucker has simply repeated the same absurd kremkrapper demands. He will continue to murder Ukrainians until he is stopped.
Will Trump finally help Ukraine, or continue helping a bunch of genocidal nazis?
There will be no “peace deal.” Trump may try to force a capitulation based on putler’s bullshit. Ukraine will reject that and Trump will probably leave.
He could go for the only righteous opinion, which is arm Ukraine “to the teeth”, force the full $300 billion of putinaZi cash to go to Ukraine and commit to full victory for Ukraine.
But will he?
Highly doubtful.
From Reuters :
“These are the same Russian demands that have been made since 1945,” said Kori Schake, a former Pentagon official who directs foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “With the behavior of the Trump administration in recent weeks, Europeans aren’t just scared we’re abandoning them, they’re afraid we’ve joined the enemy.”