Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Efforts by former President Donald Trump to broker peace in Ukraine suffered a major setback on Wednesday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled a planned meeting with Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The pair had just completed five hours of intense negotiations at the Kremlin and were scheduled to fly to Brussels for talks with Zelensky but instead returned directly to Washington, DC.
No official explanation was provided for the canceled Brussels meeting, but observers suggested it reflects deep challenges in achieving progress toward ending the war. Trump’s 28-point peace plan, unveiled last month and modeled on his Gaza deal, aimed to outline a path toward resolution. However, Zelensky rejected a revised 19-point proposal, citing unresolved issues, including Kyiv’s withdrawal from parts of the Donetsk region, vague security guarantees, and a 25% reduction in Ukraine’s military.
The talks came amid escalating threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned Europe that Russia is “ready” for conflict on the continent. “Any assault would be so ferocious that there would be nobody left to negotiate peace with,” Putin said, while accusing European allies of sabotaging peace efforts by making demands “absolutely unacceptable to Russia.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged differences remained between the U.S. and Russia, describing the discussions as a “normal process” and a first direct exchange of opinions. Senior Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov said no compromise had been reached on territorial disputes, which the Kremlin views as essential for resolving the crisis. Ukraine, for its part, has firmly rejected ceding territory captured by Russia.
European leaders expressed concern over being sidelined in the peace process. NATO officials emphasized that Russia has made no concessions and stressed the importance of maintaining military support for Ukraine. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said, “It’s pretty obvious that [Putin] doesn’t want to have any kind of peace,” while Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen called for a full ceasefire as a first step toward confidence-building.
Amid the diplomatic turmoil, NATO partners, including Canada, Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands, pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in additional weapons to Ukraine. Military analysts warn that the war of attrition favors Russia’s larger forces, particularly if disagreements among NATO allies slow the delivery of aid.
The conflict continues to take a deadly toll on the ground. Russian forces launched 111 strike and decoy drones overnight, hitting towns including Ternivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, where two civilians were killed and three injured. Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted 102 drones, while falling debris ignited a fire at an oil depot near Tambov, Russia.
As Trump’s peace initiative struggles to gain traction, the Ukraine war remains a complex and high-stakes conflict, with territorial disputes, military operations, and international diplomacy all intersecting in a volatile environment.
