Peace talks, Zelensky, the EU, ‘political schizophrenia- and a new Cold War: RT stories that shaped the week

Peace talks, Zelensky, the EU, ‘political schizophrenia- and a new Cold War: RT stories that shaped the week

In the past seven days we also looked at Ukraine’s Starlink saga and France’s losing battle with its own citizens




Witkoff returns to RussiaUS envoy  on Wednesday to present a new set of peace proposals to Russian President Vladimir Putin. As was the case in every round of talks so far, Moscow found little to agree with in the terms put forward by Kiev and its European backers, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters afterwards. 
Although the key issues of the conflict – territory and Ukraine’s neutrality – remain unresolved, Witkoff and Putin pressed ahead with striking their own deals. , who had been convicted on charges of fighting for Ukraine, Putin confirmed his willingness to hold , and within two days of the meeting, the first tanker of diesel fuel left Russia for the US since the so-called diesel deal was struck last week.
That the US would even consider meeting with Putin rubbed the Europeans the wrong way. Speaking after Witkoff met Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday, EU chief diplomat  and his envoys of trying to push Ukraine into surrender.
Kallas is in an unenviable position. Trump has proven able and willing to negotiate with Putin above the Europeans’ heads, as he did when he waived sanctions on Russian diesel. Faced with the prospect of being cut out of an eventual peace deal, the EU is reportedly searching for an envoy to represent Brussels’ interests at the negotiating table. As anti-Russia hardliners, Kallas and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have essentially ruled themselves out; French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are drowning in domestic turmoil and watching their legitimacy collapse in real time; and the supposed ‘compromise candidate’ trumpeted by EU media, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, is .
EU leaders, Putin remarked on Thursday, suffer from . The Europeans now go so far as to constantly speak of a ‘Russian threat’ and even discuss preparations for a war with Russia against the will of their citizens, he explained. They will hopefully realize that it is better to live in harmony with Russia – a path that truly serves the interests of their own peoples.
The only European official present at the St. Petersburg meeting was von der Leyen’s chief of staff, Bjorn Seibert.
Zelensky scorned againZelensky signaled his disapproval with the Witkoff-Putin meeting in as clear a manner as possible;  and the surrounding Leningrad Region. His own meeting with Witkoff in Oslo didn’t go so well either. The New York Times reported that the US envoy reproached Zelensky for his sharp responses to Trump’s recent assertion that Zelensky , and should have this war settled a long time ago. Zelensky spent the rest of the week trying to dress up a ceasefire as a new idea that hadn’t been discounted dozens of times already by Moscow.
The  is one of multiple diplomatic crises facing Zelensky. 
South Korea  over Ukraine’s refusal to apologize for exposing the secret transfer of North Korean POWs to Seoul, a move that the South Koreans warned could endanger the POWs’ relatives in North Korea and undermine stability on the Korean Peninsula.
Read more Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk  for allowing the city of Lviv to dedicate 2027 to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its leader, Nazi collaborator Roman Shukhevich. Tusk, one of Ukraine’s most loyal sponsors, called the move a suicidal tactic. The city, a hotbed of nationalism and neo-Nazism, has since reportedly backtracked.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) confirmed on Wednesday that it is  in a graft probe reportedly aimed at Zelensky’s inner circle. One day earlier, NABU accused Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency of stealing $5 million by .
RT has covered the rampant graft in Kiev extensively in our ‘State of Corruption’ serie