Russia-Ukraine Negotiations

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to descend into attritional warfare, some experts believe the West lacks a cohesive and effective plan for bringing the conflict to a decisive conclusion... "Western countries are still prepared to support Ukraine but they have no strategy for ending the war," [John] Lough told Newsweek. "They missed an opportunity in 2022 to give Ukraine what it needed before the Russians dug in and started to prepare for a long war"...

Gazprom will continue to ship gas through Ukraine to Europe on Thursday, Ukraine's gas transit operator said on Wednesday, amid unconfirmed reports Kyiv's forces had seized the Russian firm's measuring station near the border town of Sudzha... The Ukrainian transit operator said earlier on Wednesday that Russian natural gas continued to transit Ukraine as normal despite reports of clashes near the Russian town of Sudzha where Russian gas flows into Ukraine...

<excerpt> But while the successes of the surprise Kursk operation have boosted Kyiv's morale, Russian forces are striking back, capturing more territory around Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Since Ukraine launched the Kursk offensive, "I would say things have become worse in our part of the front," said Ivan Sekach, spokesperson of Ukraine's 110th Mechanized Brigade, which is currently deployed in the Pokrovsk district in the Donetsk region. "We have been getting even less ammo than before and Russians are pushing,” he told POLITICO.

Over the past 24 hours, Russia occupied the villages of Zhelanne and Orlivka and made advances in New York, Krasnohorivka, Mykolaivka and Zhuravka in Donetsk, according to an update posted by DeepState, a war mapping project close to Ukraine's defense ministry. </excerpt>

Ukraine and Russia were set to send delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a landmark agreement halting strikes on energy and power infrastructure on both sides, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said, in what would have amounted to a partial cease-fire and offered a reprieve for both countries. But the indirect talks, with the Qataris serving as mediators and meeting separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last week, according to the officials...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was the first part of Kyiv’s victory plan, which he intends to present to US President Joe Biden in September... While light on details, Zelensky said the four-stage plan began with the cross-border incursion into Kursk, which he said “is already done”... “Kursk region is part of our plan. The plan of our victory. It may sound ambitious for someone, but it’s a very important plan for us,” he said...

As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to drag on, much is uncertain about its eventual end. But one thing that is clear—and that may greatly influence how the war ends and the regional landscape afterward—is Turkey’s critical role in shaping a cease-fire and post-war arrangement... Turkey, and its approach to peacemaking, offers unique value here: It combines enough hard power to make clear that Russia would not emerge as regional hegemon or conqueror, but leaves enough doors open to fostering ties that the Kremlin would have reasons to end the war...

Russia said on Tuesday its forces had advanced by 1,000 square kilometres (390 square miles) in eastern Ukraine in August and September despite a Ukrainian incursion into western Russia, which ruled out any ceasefire talks with Kyiv... Shoigu, who sits at the heart of Kremlin policy-making on the Security Council, said on state TV that as long as Ukrainian forces were on sovereign Russian soil there would be no talks with Kyiv, and this was the stance of President Vladimir Putin...

<excerpt> After news of the comments broke, 30 progressive Democrats issued a letter echoing Biden’s concerns and urging the administration to pair support for Ukraine’s successes with a “proactive diplomatic push” to seek a ceasefire. The signatories were unequivocal that they supported Biden’s commitment to Ukraine. A draft of the letter had even come in for criticism from the grassroots supports of diplomacy for its staunch support of sending billions in arms to Ukraine.

It all seemed very reasonable, especially amid talk of nuclear war.

The lawmakers were torn to shreds. </excerpt>