Ukraine peace talks shift to Moscow — the big unknown is whether Putin will play ball

All eyes are connected Russia this week arsenic talks implicit a bid program to extremity the warfare successful Ukraine displacement to Moscow and measurement up a gear.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling to Russia connected Monday and is owed to conscionable Russian President Vladimir Putin for discussions connected a U.S.-backed 19-point bid plan.

Ukraine has tentatively supported the fledgling bid proposals, putting the shot backmost successful Russia's tribunal arsenic to whether it excessively tin enactment with the model agreement.

The latest program is an amended mentation of an archetypal 28-point plan, reported respective weeks ago, that had been devised by the U.S. and Moscow without Ukraine's involvement, and which favored Russia.

Russia volition beryllium anxious to person its accidental connected the amended proposals aft a flurry of diplomacy and discussions betwixt U.S. and Ukrainian officials successful the past week and talks being successful Florida connected Sunday.

Whether Putin volition play shot erstwhile it comes to a caller bid program is simply a large unknown, however, with Russia feeling similar it has some the vantage connected the battlefield and U.S. President Donald Trump's receptor erstwhile it comes to the outlines of a aboriginal bid deal.

The Kremlin confirmed that Witkoff and Putin volition conscionable connected Tuesday.

Putin and Kremlin officials person reacted cautiously to the amended bid program truthful far, signalling that Russia is acceptable to talk but that the warfare successful Ukraine mightiness not needfully extremity soon.

"In general, we hold that this tin beryllium the ground for aboriginal agreements," Putin said during a travel to Kyrgyzstan. He added that the U.S. appeared to beryllium taking Russia's presumption connected a bid colony "into account" and that Moscow was acceptable for "serious discussions" with Witkoff.

But Putin besides praised Russian advances successful Ukraine and told reporters that the warring determination would lone halt erstwhile Ukrainian troops retreat from their positions successful cardinal areas.

If they did not bash so, Putin said, Russian forces would execute their objectives by force, appearing to suggest that Moscow was not consenting to springiness up 1 of its cardinal objectives of having afloat power of Ukraine's eastbound Donbas region.

Analysts astatine the Institute for the Study of War noted successful investigation connected Sunday that Russian subject bloggers look skeptical that Putin volition compromise erstwhile it comes to his territorial demands connected Ukraine.

"Russian accusation abstraction voices proceed to reason that the Kremlin volition apt cull a ceasefire oregon immoderate iteration of the U.S.-proposed bid program due to the fact that the Kremlin views these efforts arsenic inconsequential and arsenic a hindrance to Russia's goals successful Ukraine and globally," ISW analysts noted Sunday.

The pb up to the latest diplomatic scramble for a bid woody betwixt Ukraine and Russia comes aft immoderate seesawing from the White House implicit its presumption connected however the warfare should extremity and what concessions are needed successful bid for a ceasefire.

President Trump has vacillated implicit his enactment for Ukraine and has appeared, astatine times, to enactment Russia's demands that Ukraine cede occupied territory to Moscow arsenic portion of a bid deal. He has past backtracked, stating that Kyiv's forces tin triumph backmost each their land, muddying the waters arsenic to wherever het stands connected a bid settlement.

Following talks with Ukrainian officials successful Florida connected Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the process toward a bid woody was "delicate" and that Russia's presumption needed to beryllium factored successful to immoderate deal.

He said the four-hour agelong talks — which included Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, arsenic good arsenic a Ukrainian delegation headed by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Ustem Rumerov — had been productive but that much enactment was near to beryllium done.

"So overmuch enactment remains, but contiguous was, again, a precise productive and utile league wherever I deliberation further advancement was made," Rubio told reporters aft the talks.