Follow us on social

Diplomacy Watch: Talks to end the war are back on the agenda

Diplomacy Watch: Talks to end the war are back on the agenda

A meeting between Ukraine, Turkey and the UN shows that Kyiv may be warming to the idea of discussions with Moscow.

Analysis | Europe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Lviv on Thursday. Though details of the talks remain unclear, diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war were on the agenda, according to AP.

The summit indicates that Ukraine has softened its opposition to considering a diplomatic end to the war. Given Russian territorial advances, Ukrainian officials had previously argued that a counterattack aimed at retaking land would be a prerequisite for any talks, and just last week a Zelensky adviser said Kyiv intends to “fight to the last Russian on the territory of Ukraine.”

It also shows that Turkey and the UN will continue to serve a central role in the international response to the war. Erdogan has refashioned himself as a mediator between East and West in recent months, arming Ukraine with one hand and spearheading talks with Russia with the other. Guterres has also made himself useful by heading the humanitarian response to the war and supporting talks on a range of issues affected by the conflict.

But their efforts to bring Ukraine to the table rely on an unpredictable factor: Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has often contended that he is ready to negotiate an end to the war, but it’s a lot easier to say that when the other side shows no desire to start talks. Only time will tell if the Russian president’s avowed zeal for negotiations is really a bluff.

In other diplomatic news related to the war in Ukraine:

— Russia and Ukraine agreed to let an international delegation inspect the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after days of shelling near the facility, according to the New York Times. The move will likely help to assuage concerns about a potential meltdown at the plant, which is the largest of its kind in Europe. The decision may have been a result of the Lviv talks, which included discussions about how to keep the situation at the facility under control.

— A UN-chartered grain ship left one of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Sunday, according to Politico. The World Food Program vessel — the first to leave Ukraine since the war began — is carrying 23,000 metric tons of wheat that will help fight hunger in Ethiopia, where a civil war has left many in need of emergency aid. In related news, the United States announced Tuesday that it will give $68 million to the WFP, which will allow it to buy and distribute ​​150,000 metric tons of wheat, according to the Wall Street Journal.

— American basketball star Britney Griner’s defense team said Monday that it will file an appeal after she was sentenced to prison in Russia for possession of cannabis oil, according to the New York Times. The move comes as Moscow and Washington continue to discuss a prisoner swap that could bring home Griner and ex-Marine Paul Whelan in exchange for a Russian arms dealer imprisoned in the United States. “We’re in communication with Russian officials on the serious, substantial proposal that we put forward,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a press briefing Monday. “We will continue to urge the Russians to engage constructively so that we can bring this to a resolution.”

— Efforts to isolate Russia at the UN have stalled, according to Reuters. Despite early success in rallying the international community against Moscow’s brutal invasion, “Western countries are shying away from some specific moves, fearing tepid support, as rising vote abstentions have signaled a growing unwillingness to publicly oppose Moscow.”

U.S. State Department news:

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Price emphasized the importance of avoiding escalation in Ukraine when asked if the United State should provide Ukraine with longer range weapons. “It is not in Ukraine’s interest, it is not in NATO’s interest, it is not in Europe’s interest, it is not in our interest to see Russia’s aggression against Ukraine become a broader conflagration, and for this war to spill beyond the borders of Ukraine more broadly into Europe, or potentially bringing Russia into conflict with NATO and the United States,” he said. “That is not in anyone’s interest.”


Analysis | Europe
trump latin america
Top photo credit: A supporter of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wears a shirt with U.S. President Donald Trump's face that reads "Yankee Go Home" during a rally to mark the anniversary of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's initial coup attempt in 1992, in Caracas, Venezuela February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

Trump's Latin American sticks could end up stuck in his spokes

Latin America

For successive U.S. administrations, the big region below the American southern U.S. border was considered a bit of a backwater.

Sure, there were a few internal conflicts left outstanding, a couple of old-school leftist insurgencies still in operation, and the perpetual problem of drug trafficking. But after the Soviet Union collapsed, Latin America was never thought of as an epicenter of great power competition. The United States, frankly, didn’t have to worry about a geopolitical contender nosing into its own neighborhood.

keep readingShow less
Trump and Putin on phone
Top photo credit: Donald Trump (White House photo) and Vladimir Putin (Office of the Russian Federation President)

US-Russia talks: The rubber finally hits the road

Europe

If the diplomatic overtures of the past several months were seen by some as opaque, then today’s phone call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be taken as anything but proof positive that the rubber has hit the road on serious, substantive U.S.-Russia negotiations over a Ukraine peace deal.

The White House has been pushing for an all-encompassing ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as the first step on the long road to a durable settlement. There is an obvious military rationale for doing so: the major battlefield indicators favor Russia, which is slowly overpowering Ukraine in a war of attrition and has just effectively ended the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ (AFU) high-stakes incursion into the Kursk region.

keep readingShow less
Germany's historic vote to amend constitution for defense hike
Top Photo: A general view of the Parliament as German Bundestag President Baerbel Bas delivers words of commemoration on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Hamas' October 7 attack, ahead of a session of the lower house of parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Germany's historic vote to amend constitution for defense hike

QiOSK

Germany’s Bundestag has voted to pass a constitutional amendment that would authorize increases in defense, infrastructure, and some foreign aid spending, financed through increased borrowing.

"The decision we are taking today... can be nothing less than the first major step towards a new European defense community,” said likely incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commented that the vote “sends a very clear message to Europe that Germany is determined to invest massively in defense."

keep readingShow less

Trump transition

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.