“Witkoff and Kushner have chosen a very peculiar approach,” – Samuel Charap on peace negotiations

He discussed this during the program “Dialogues.”

“The structure of the negotiations depends almost entirely on the preferences and decisions of the American mediators—specifically, the two individuals leading this process. Witkoff and Kushner have chosen a very peculiar approach, which, in our view, is unlikely to lead to success. What does this approach entail? They placed the primary emphasis on territorial concessions from Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees from the US and Europe. From our perspective, this exaggerates the importance of territories for the Russians and the value of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Samuel Charap explains.

Peace negotiations, he argues, should convince the warring parties that each wants to live in peace and is ready to renounce military force to achieve its goals; accordingly, this would allow a transition away from the acute phase of the conflict. However, the expert emphasizes that swapping territories for security guarantees does not resolve these issues of trust.

According to the guest, the issue of territories must certainly be resolved during the talks, but it should not be made the main focus, as this is precisely what makes a peaceful settlement less likely. In his opinion, the territorial question should be addressed at the end; otherwise, its resolution becomes a prerequisite for the further process.

“It is difficult to speak about Washington in this context because, of course, not everyone holds the view that the territorial issue is central. I might even suggest that this is probably a minority view, but it is a very influential one, and it is leading the process,” Samuel Charap concludes.

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