Kathrine Frich
US envoy Steve Witkoff is getting ready to fly to Russia for top-level talks.
High-stakes diplomacy often starts with a plane ticket and a hopeful agenda.
When countries sit down to talk after years of conflict, everyone watches for the slightest sign of a breakthrough.
Before the next big meeting in Eastern Europe even begins, however, one side is already slamming the brakes.
No room to budge
US envoy Steve Witkoff is getting ready to fly to Russia for top-level talks. According to United24 Media, the Kremlin is already making it clear that it has no plans to compromise.
On October 20, RBC-Ukraine reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow will listen to whatever ideas Witkoff brings to the table. Still, the diplomat stressed that political concessions are completely out of the question.
Lavrov also noted that Russia is open to fixing its broken ties with Western countries, as cited by United24 Media and RBC-Ukraine. There is a major catch. He warned that relations will never go back to how they looked before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Skepticism over sanctions
Money and trade penalties remain a huge sticking point between the two powers. According to RBC-Ukraine, Lavrov said Moscow does not expect any major changes on sanctions from the Trump administration.
Recently, Washington chose not to enforce a specific sanctions bill written by US Senator Lindsey Graham. Lavrov warned against reading too much into that move, noting to RBC-Ukraine that the next US president could easily take a completely different path.
Hardening the battle lines
Behind the diplomatic posturing, the military push continues to escalate. United24 Media reported that Russian military chiefs recently laid out a plan to split Kyiv in two by destroying key bridges across Ukraine.
That announcement came right after Russian President Vladimir Putin led a top-level briefing on war priorities. According to U24 Media, Putin ordered his forces to keep hitting Ukrainian infrastructure with massive strikes and demanded better results from Russia’s air defenses.
At the same time, official Kremlin statements cited by U24 Media took border safety zones off the table for any future peace talks. Moscow also pointed to heavy damage across Ukraine’s steel industry and major disruptions at its Black Sea ports.
