Putin's Kremlin Scheme Has Begun To Unravel

• Petr Oleshchuk
• 7.09.2026, 11:10

The United States recognized Ukraine.

Like most Ukrainians, I am extremely skeptical of Whitcoff and Kushner—Trump’s special representatives for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. But at the same time, I cannot help but note the rather significant changes that have recently been observed in the work of these negotiators.

What do I mean, first and foremost?

Previously, the negotiations—involving first Whitcoff and then Whitcoff and Kushner—took place almost exclusively as mediation between Trump and Putin, between the Russian and American sides. Ukraine, meanwhile, was viewed more as an object.

In other words, the pattern looked something like this: Whitcoff travels to Moscow, meets with Russian representatives, has lunch, meets with Putin, listens to his demands, and then returns to Washington with all of this information. And then the pressure on Ukraine begins, with demands that it agree to Russia’s whims.

It cannot be said that the Americans have now completely moved away from this pattern. We still observe some signs of it. But at the same time, they seem to have finally acknowledged the obvious fact. Any agreements to end the Russian-Ukrainian war are possible only with Ukraine’s participation. Moreover, this is not merely a matter of the Ukrainian side’s formal presence at the negotiating table, but of its substantive involvement in drafting the final documents.

And this is a very significant change. Moreover, it’s clearly not so much in the minds of Kushner and Whitcomb themselves as in the approaches of those who direct them to such negotiations. And this, in my view, is very telling.

Equally telling is how the Russians tried with all their might to prevent this visit. I am referring specifically to the trip by American representatives to Kyiv following their visit to Moscow.

A full-fledged information campaign unfolded around this, supported by a number of well-known purveyors of Russian propaganda, including that very same Sharia. He outright intimidated Whitcoff and Kushner by claiming that if they went to Kyiv, no one could guarantee their safety, that a “war between intelligence agencies” was underway there, and that the situation was generally very dangerous—and therefore they shouldn’t go.

Even before the Russians announced their so-called “restriction” on shelling Kyiv, Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv’s two main airports (Zhuliany and Boryspil). Moreover, at Zhuliany, two Soviet-era aircraft—which had been sitting there motionless for a long time—were hit. In other words, this looked like a purely symbolic act intended to demonstrate that the airport could not be used for the American delegation’s visit.

Apparently, Moscow calculated that, since American representatives are not particularly fond of using ground transportation as an alternative to air travel, this would serve as yet another argument against their traveling to Kyiv.

But they went anyway.

Because even they, evidently, realized that negotiations and mediation without the genuine participation of both sides are a rather absurd construct that simply cannot serve as the basis for a serious diplomatic process.

And this is indeed a significant shift that we are now seeing in the Trump administration’s position.

Does all this mark the beginning of some new negotiation process capable of leading to an end to the war in the foreseeable future? I have serious doubts about that.

Because, overall, Russia’s position has not changed. And although Putin himself has formally stated that negotiations should take place between Russia and Ukraine, That is, he has supposedly indirectly recognized Ukraine’s statehood—this by no means implies that Russia is actually ready to recognize the very existence of the Ukrainian state.

And this, ultimately, is the key problem facing the negotiation process today.

The issue is not who controls this or that part of the Donbas. Nor is it even what additional demands the Russians might make regarding the Russian language in Ukraine. We understand perfectly well that neither the Russian language nor the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine is what truly concerns the Russian leadership. It is about the desire to obtain legally enshrined levers of influence that could be used to restrict Ukrainian sovereignty and, subsequently, to turn that restriction into the gradual dismantling of the Ukrainian state.

And it is precisely this issue that remains key.

It is obvious that until the Russian regime finds itself in circumstances where it can no longer contemplate the dismantling of the Ukrainian state and is forced to deal with entirely different problems, it is hardly possible to speak of a truly successful and promising diplomatic process. And this, too, is a fact that I think we should all acknowledge.

Therefore, at this point, we can identify two main outcomes of Whitcoff and Kushner’s visit to Kyiv.

The first is what appears to be the U.S. side’s long-overdue acknowledgment that no realistic prospect for negotiations is possible without taking Ukraine’s position into account.

The second is a temporary halt to the endless barrage of shelling targeting the Ukrainian capital, which had in fact lasted for over a week.

At this point, in my view, these are the two main conclusions and the two most obvious consequences of what has happened.

Petro Oleshchuk, Facebook