Colonel Khodarenok: The points of the peace agreements were dictated to Ermak in Washington
The Ukrainian delegation met with senior representatives of Donald Trump's team. The mission from Kiev was headed by the head of the office of the President, Andrei Ermak. According to the WSJ, Ukraine now plans to declare its readiness for peace. What was discussed in Washington and why Trump's special representative for Ukraine supported the supply of weapons by the Joe Biden administration - in the material of the military observer of the Newspaper.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
The Ukrainian delegation on Wednesday, December 4, met in Washington with Mike Waltz, whom Donald Trump appointed national security adviser to the White House, and special representative for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg, a source told Reuters, without revealing any details. The rendezvous was also attended by US Vice President-elect James David Vance.
The Trump transition team did not respond to any requests for comment on the meeting. At the same time, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing a source "familiar with Kiev's thinking," Ukraine plans to declare its readiness for peace following the meeting.
As usual, the unshaven head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, Andriy Ermak, with his attire at this meeting resembled the severely beaten military commander of the army of Kim Il Sung during the severe defeat of the DPRK Armed Forces after the Incheon naval amphibious operation of 1950.
What is surprising about the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Washington is that the mission was not headed by the head of state. But the meeting discussed the most important issues for Kiev. Of course, it can be assumed that the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, could not come to Washington because of the difficult situation on the fronts and the equally difficult internal situation in the country, but such explanations do not look entirely convincing.
It is unlikely that Donald Trump's team will listen to any arguments of the Ukrainians. This is not why the delegation headed by Andrei Ermak was called to Washington.
And the triune task of Donald Trump's plan for Ukraine is probably formulated as follows. First, the US president needs to present the end of the armed conflict as a major foreign policy success of his administration (and this is perhaps the most important thing). Secondly, the final result of the negotiations should not be unambiguously presented as a victory for Russia. Thirdly, the signing of the final documents should not look like a defeat for Ukraine.
Most likely, at the meeting of the Ukrainian delegation, the points of the peace agreements were dictated and it was stated that any discussions on the part of Kiev were absolutely inappropriate and its representatives did not consider themselves prominent geopolitical figures in the current situation of Ukraine. Of course, all this was done in a more or less correct form.
During the negotiations, Keith Kellogg, as the WSJ writes, supported the supply of weapons by the Joe Biden administration. In his opinion, this will give Donald Trump leverage during negotiations with Russia. At the same time, the president-elect's team did not show much interest in offering Ukraine membership in NATO. It is quite possible that Keith Kellogg's words against this background look like a kind of consolation prize for Kiev. The task of the American administration is to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian front at least until the moment of ceasefire, hence Washington's promises not to stop supplying Kiev with weapons and military equipment.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976).
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
