Russia, Ukraine and US officials to meet this week for more talks to end the war : NPR

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Russian, Ukrainian and American officials are meeting tomorrow in Switzerland for a new round of negotiations focused on ending the war in Ukraine. The talks come as Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches the four-year mark. In a few minutes we’ll hear from former Ambassador Kurt Volker about the future of U.S.-Europe relations, but we’ll start with tomorrow’s negotiations.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR’s Charles Maynes has it all covered. He is online from Moscow. Hi, Charles.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hello.

INSKEEP: Is there anything about these discussions that would suggest that they would play out differently than any other discussions?

MAYNES: Well, you know, President Trump’s favorite negotiators for seemingly everything these days – it’s White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – they represent the United States, and they’ve been pretty optimistic about the prospect of a deal.

REGISTRATION: OK.

MAYNES: But in his remarks at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was much more cautious, particularly when it came to Russia.

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MARCO RUBIO: The answer is that we don’t know. We do not know whether the Russians really want to end the war – they say so – and under what conditions they were ready to do so, and whether we can find conditions acceptable to Ukraine and to which Russia will always agree. But we will continue to test it.

INSKEEP: testing what the Russian position is. Do you clearly understand what the Russian position is when you listen to people in Moscow?

MAYNES: Well, the Kremlin’s line here is that it prefers diplomacy to conflict, but that Russian victory is also inevitable. So give us what we want, or we’ll take it by force. But I think we need to be clear that this is also part of Russia’s strategy and its negotiations with the White House to try to convince the United States that Ukraine’s cause is hopeless. Furthermore, the Kremlin suggests that once this war is resolved, the United States and Russia will be able to resume operations with enormous investment opportunities. And White House negotiator Steve Witkoff, in particular, has made clear that he sees business and profits as the key to ironing out postwar differences between Russia and Ukraine.

INSKEEP: Oh, that’s really interesting. So the Russians say if you follow us you can make money. Americans want to make money. But they still don’t have an agreement. So what are the main problems here?

MAYNES: Yeah. American efforts are really bogged down on the question of territorial concessions and security agreements. Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede territory, including parts claimed but not occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine asks why should we give up territory that Russia could not conquer in four years? Or if for some reason they were to accept that, then they certainly want ironclad security guarantees from the West and the United States in particular, some assurance that Russia simply won’t come back to attack again. But during a speech in Munich this weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made clear he was under pressure from the White House to sign a deal.

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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: The Americans often return to the theme of concessions. And too often, these concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia.

REGISTRATION: OK. So this is Zelensky’s point of view, that he alone is forced to concede and still cannot reach an agreement. I would like to ask you for further news on this subject. European countries made an announcement over the weekend regarding Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition. What did you hear?

MAYNES: Yeah. In fact, today marks two years to the day since Navalny died in a remote prison in the Russian Arctic. Today, several European countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, say that analyzes of Navalny’s remains smuggled out of Russia have conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine. This is a toxin found in South American poison dart frogs. They are not from Russia. The United States asserts that it does not dispute these findings. Russian officials, however, continue to say that Navalny died of natural causes. But these European findings appear to confirm what Navalny’s family and supporters have certainly always maintained: that he was murdered.

INSKEEP: NPR’s Charles Maynes is in Moscow. Thank you, as always, for your ideas. I really appreciate it.

MAYNES: Thanks, Steve.

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