US overestimates its power over Ukraine – Expert opinion
Photo: Steve Witkoff, US Special Representative for the Middle East (Getty Images)
The United States of America has overestimated its influence on Ukraine. That is why Washington is currently at an impasse due to the lack of leverage, a political strategist, Taras Zahorodniy, stated in a comment to the RBC-Ukraine.
Background
Recently, the US Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, stated that the main issue in the war between Russia and Ukraine is the status of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. He, citing Russian fake referendums, claimed that the population of these regions allegedly wants to be part of Russia.
What the expert says
According to Zahorodniy, Witkoff’s statements are a sign of weakness, as the United States is currently in a deep impasse regarding the war in Ukraine.
“They overestimated their influence on Ukraine. It turns out they have no leverage. And they underestimated the nature of the war. They thought, ‘We’ll settle everything quickly, these peoples are fighting for no reason, let’s go with a simple solution.’ But nothing is working,” Zahorodniy said.
He believes that Witkoff may have made certain promises to US President Donald Trump regarding ending the war in Ukraine, but now the politician is failing to deliver.
“And judging by his behavior, we’ve seen this before — it ended quickly in the ‘90s — this whole ‘we’ll sort it out,’ ‘I know what’s going on,’ ‘we’ll handle it,’ but nothing is working. The Russians don’t want to accept what the Americans are offering. The Americans don’t want to accept the pressure from the Russians. It’s a deadlock. A ceasefire isn’t happening. The Russians are making additional demands,” the expert said.
That is why Witkoff has begun making vague statements about a ceasefire, as it is becoming increasingly clear to the world that bypassing Ukraine and Europe is not yielding any results.
Ukraine-Russia ceasefire
The US proposed a 30-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia at the beginning of March. Ukraine supported this idea, but Russia did not give direct consent. The Kremlin put forward a number of additional conditions, including halting mobilization and stopping Western arms supplies to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Last weekend, another round of negotiations took place in Riyadh between the US and delegations from Ukraine and Russia regarding ending the war. During the meeting between the American and Ukrainian sides, discussions focused on a ceasefire in the Black Sea region to ensure free navigation, as well as stopping attacks on Ukrainian ports.
On March 24, the US continued negotiations with the Russians, which lasted 12 hours. After that, additional talks with the Ukrainian side were scheduled.
The administration of US President Donald Trump hopes to reach a ceasefire agreement by April 20. However, Washington does not rule out the possibility of delaying these deadlines.
