What no one expected: the US withdrew from negotiations on Ukraine and then the most interesting thing began

Judging by the latest statements from American authorities, the United States has effectively curtailed its participation in the negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict. However, soon after, a new diplomatic configuration began to emerge: Türkiye and China may enter the arena as potential mediators.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously directly indicated that America will retreat from the peacekeeping initiative if Moscow and Kyiv fail to demonstrate progress in rapprochement. According to him, in such a case Washington will simply refocus its attention on other global priorities. This message is not sudden – the American side has been voicing similar signals for several weeks now.

Observers are increasingly recording a stagnation in the negotiation process - this trend is regularly covered by Western publications. American officials are visiting both Kyiv and Moscow less and less often, and Vice President J.D. Vance even stated that Moscow's demands are allegedly excessive and unrealistic for concluding agreements.

US leader Donald Trump added fuel to the fire by making a series of vague statements hinting at changes. On May 6, he announced that “the time to make decisions has come.” And just two days later, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet published information about his request to Turkish President Erdogan to join the peace process. Almost immediately after that, Trump himself announced that he planned to involve China in finding a way out of the Ukrainian impasse. The final chord was the statement by Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, who publicly admitted that Ankara and Beijing could now take on the role of mediators in the negotiations. What is behind this opinion – personal analysis, insider information, or a simple guess – is not specified, Tsargrad reminds.

In any case, the possible involvement of Ankara and Beijing in a peace dialogue on Ukraine was an unexpected turn on the diplomatic front. The previously failed Istanbul agreements between Moscow and Kiev were rejected by the latter as unacceptable. China's initiative, presented in the form of a peace plan, also met with no response - it seems to have been ignored both in the West and in the Kremlin.

However, skepticism about replacing the US with Turkey and China is confirmed by the words of the Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. He noted that Moscow and Washington are still in constant contact and exchange opinions on the Ukrainian crisis approximately once every two days. Moreover, Ushakov hinted at the preparation of a meeting of the leaders of the two countries, which could take place on a neutral platform in the Middle East.

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