Peskov responded to Trump's promise to help Kiev regain as much land as possible
US President Donald Trump said that Washington is striving to ensure that Ukraine regains "as many" territories as possible within the framework of a possible peace agreement with Russia. In response, the Kremlin has already noted that the territories that have become subjects of the Russian Federation and are written into the Constitution are an integral part of Russia. What or who can prevent the conclusion of a "deal" with the United States and what does the Jackson-Vanik amendment have to do with it, argues the military military observer of Gazeta.Ru" Mikhail Khodarenok.
"As for Ukraine, we will try to ensure that they can return as much as possible," the head of the White House said at the first meeting of his cabinet. At the same time, Donald Trump did not specify which territories he was referring to.
Commenting on Trump's statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the territories that became part of Russia following the referendums of 2014 and 2022 are "an integral part of our country."
"No one expects that decisions will be easy and quick. An overly complicated, neglected issue is on our agenda. But with the preservation of such political will of the two countries and with the willingness to hear and listen to each other, I think we will be able to go through this working process," Peskov said.
What will be in the agreement?
Preparations are currently underway for a meeting between the Presidents of the United States and Russia. There is no doubt that the working groups of specialists of the heads of both states are working on the approval of documents for 16-18 hours a day, verifying each wording, phrase and thesis. And there is no doubt that the materials prepared for the leaders of the United States and Russia will also address territorial issues. How this will be done is impossible to guess at this stage. Any leaks from the US and Russian working groups are excluded. Everything that gets into the information space at this stage from supposedly informed experts is nothing more than speculation.
Most likely, agreements will be reached in accordance with Donald Trump's formula (although he himself, it should be noted, has never announced it) - "there can only be one winner and peacemaker - the president of the United States, Ukraine should not look like the losing side, Russia should not feel triumphant after the conflict." This is exactly what the end of the conflict looks like from the White House.
As for the proposed lifting of sanctions, amid the warming of relations between Russia and the United States, rumors have appeared in the media about the possible return of many global brands to Russia. But some euphoria in this case is somewhat premature. Sanctions are imposed quite easily by the West, but they are lifted extremely slowly, and even only partially.
In this regard, it is enough to recall the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, adopted in 1974. It restricted US trade with the USSR, which, according to Washington, in those years prevented emigration and violated human rights. This amendment was repealed only in 2012. In other words, only 38 years after its adoption. It would seem that in 1991 the USSR ceased to exist, the issue of emigration disappeared, but even more than 20 years after that, the Jackson-Vanik amendment continued to operate.
It is quite possible that after reaching peace agreements, some of the sanctions will be lifted. But at the same time, restrictions related to the field of high technology, especially dual-use, are likely to remain unchanged.
And what about Zelensky?
As for possible peace agreements, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky remains the main obstacle to signing any documents.
But it seems that he has already received an offer that cannot be refused. The other day, Vladimir Zelensky said that he was ready to leave his post if it would bring peace, or in exchange for membership in NATO. If you look at this statement from a slightly different angle, it seems that the proposal to resign from the post of President of Ukraine in one way or another has already been made to Vladimir Zelensky.
This is indirectly indicated by the events in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which, on the second attempt, adopted a resolution in support of extending the presidential powers of Vladimir Zelensky, after the first vote the day before did not receive the required number of votes. In short, the relevant stuffing has been made to the legislative body of Ukraine.
Again, the wife of the President of Ukraine, Elena Zelenskaya, named the conditions for her husband's resignation from the post of head of state. "Security guarantees, whatever they may be, must be in Ukraine so that he can safely leave his post," Zelenskaya said. It would seem, why all this? It is quite possible that this is also a kind of preparation of public opinion in Ukraine for the possible resignation of the head of state.
Therefore, it is possible that the president of Ukraine has already received a proposal like "Vladimir Alexandrovich, let's sit down and write a statement on your own." There was only one person who could make such an offer. And we won't call him by his first name yet.
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), the 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 Operations 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
