President Vladimir V. Putin shows little sign of stopping the war in Ukraine despite new U.S. business deals. Officials hoped these moves would build goodwill, but the Kremlin remains firm on its demands. Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are now convening talks this Tuesday and Wednesday in the Emirates.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has shown a willingness to endure a high price to get what he wants in Ukraine, and he sees little reason to stop fighting now, analysts say.
For a year and a half, as the United States engaged Russia in on-again, off-again peace talks, the Trump administration held off on cutting any business deals with Moscow, insisting that the Kremlin first take concrete steps toward ending the war in Ukraine.
That all changed this fall. President Trump brokered a deal to waive sanctions and import Russian diesel ahead of the midterm elections. U.S. officials held talks on a range of possible deals, including the sale of the international assets of the Russian energy giant Lukoil and the resumption of Russian gas exports to Europe.
U.S. officials argued that the frenzy of potential deal-making could build good will and help compel the Kremlin to stop fighting. But the inducements have done little to curb President Vladimir V. Putin's central demands on the war, which include placing limits on Ukraine's defenses and alliances and broadly reordering the security architecture in Europe.
Those demands are at the center of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump's envoys, are convening on Tuesday and Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates. The talks, the first since February involving all three countries, will address thorny topics like how to put in place an eventual cease-fire and whether a compromise can be reached on territory, U.S. officials said.
Top security advisers have flown in from European countries and NATO as momentum builds for Europe to become more directly involved in the peace process. The European officials will meet with the Americans and the Ukrainians, with a view toward fostering more direct discussions between European and Russian leaders in the future, the U.S. officials said.
But to pull Mr. Putin toward compromise, it is going to take a lot more than business deals, analysts say.