Peace talks between the presidents of the United States and Russia are going to be held on Friday. As the reports of British Broadcasting Corporation and Cable News Network indicate, two leaders, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, will hold a meeting on the Ukraine war in Alaska, the United States. This is a crucial development in the peace process — which started in February and has been going on for several months — and may lead to promising advancements. This can also help reach an early solution. But it remains unclear whether their talks will lead to an immediate ceasefire and how much their peace talks will lead to an acceptable resolution to the Ukraine war, which has been going on since April 2022.
There is a possibility of an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine but it remains uncertain. There is no indication from Russia of a possible ceasefire, which has been given emphasis for several months. But it may not be surprising altogether because Donald Trump has better acceptability to the Russian president, despite recent bitter exchanges of words between the US and Russia, which have already carried out several peace talks on the Ukraine war. Even if a ceasefire does not reach in the meeting and there are conflicting interests-driven and other reasons including the complexity of the problems, their talks will help resolve the conflict. Pertinently saying, several territories of Ukraine are occupied by Russia including Crimea and Donbas. While Russia repeatedly said that territorial issues cannot be a condition, Kyiv has never laid claim to any of the Russia-occupied territories.
But reaching a ceasefire is desirable, not only for ending the war but also for preventing its further complexity. Pertinently saying, tensions have increased between Russia and US already because of several reasons including the sending of two US nuclear submarines to an unidentified place near Russia and intensified Russian attacks in Ukraine. The failure of reaching a ceasefire will probably complicate the situation of the Ukraine war — further — because of possible sanctions and other reasons. The United States and European countries have by this time threatened to impose new and tougher sanctions on Russia, which received unprecedented sanctions from the West so far. In addition to sanctions, the US is also considering the imposition of 100 tariffs on Russian products.
But further talks between the United States and Russia are also needed, even if a ceasefire is not reached in the meeting, and can help reach a solution to the war. Without the talks between the US president and the Russian president, the resolution of the Ukraine war is unlikely. This is probably because of the geopolitical significance of the war in the European region and beyond, the involvement of global powers such as Russia, the US and Europe, their differing interests and several other reasons. Along with sanctions, the United States, in addition to the European Union, will also probably continue to provide weapons and financial support to Ukraine for an indefinite time, increasing the chance of prolonging the war.
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Even if a ceasefire is immediately reached in the presidential talks in Alaska, further efforts are needed to reach an early solution to the war. But a more acceptable solution is needed. Pertinently saying, though it is ideally desirable, it is probably difficult to reach a pre-war situation like solution, when there was no war and no sanctions and counter-sanctions, after more than a decade — if the occupation of Crimea is considered. This may not be feasible because of geopolitical and other issues involved in the war. Things have turned out to be too complex and it is difficult to reach such a solution between the parties especially from Russia.
But an acceptable solution to the Ukraine war is still possible. For this, a compromise from the parties involved in the war has no alternative. Among the parties, Russia and Ukraine, which have already held several talks, also need to play their role, since the war is directly related to them. But direct talks between the presidents of Russia, which has played down the expectations of a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, and Ukraine are vital.
