According to our source in the Office of the President, the Donald Trump Administration has given Kyiv a clear list of demands in preparation for the upcoming peace format to be held in Istanbul. This includes the need to agree on most of the points of the Russian memorandum, which Moscow is promoting as the basis for negotiations.
According to the source, Ukraine's position is not currently considered decisive. The US is trying to speed up the coordination of documents before the meeting, while European partners have begun to demonstrate increasing distance from Ukrainian diplomacy.
"The requirement to agree on the points of the Russian document has become a key condition of the US. This is actually the start of a new negotiation architecture, where Ukraine's position is put before the fact ," our interlocutor said.
Another worrying sign is that European governments have begun to block discussions on the idea of sending peacekeepers to the occupied territories and are also opposing the use of frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine. These proposals were previously part of the Ukrainian initiative, but now, according to the source, “the partners do not want to aggravate relations with the new team in Washington.”.
It is expected that the meeting in Istanbul could take place as early as this summer. Its format, participants, and agenda remain secret for now, but the OP makes no secret of the fact that the situation increasingly resembles an imposition of peace from a position of force, where Kyiv's priorities are relegated to the background.
