Will the War Last Three Years? Is This All Just a Game?

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the latest round of negotiations held in Geneva with mediation from Washington ended, like all previous meetings this year, in a way that left no one able to point to any real progress.

Optimistic diplomatic statements from negotiators are in fact masking a stalemate in the peace process, which many observers, and even some participants, believe has turned into political theater, The Wall Street Journal notes.

The paper quotes former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder, expressing the belief that negotiations are not bringing the war any closer to an end.

"This is a game whose purpose is to avoid accusations of Trump’s inability to end the war", he said.

In turn, a senior Ukrainian official, who was not named, stated that three rounds of trilateral talks held in Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Geneva were essentially a performance designed to convince Trump that Ukraine is not an obstacle.

Both Kyiv and Moscow fear that the U.S. president could harm their interests if he runs out of patience, the American newspaper notes.

Ukraine, it recalls, continues to receive significant intelligence assistance from the United States, as well as weapons funded by Europe.

On the other hand, Russia faces increased sanctions that could further undermine its weakened economy. Moscow also needs Washington’s help to pressure Kyiv into making concessions, analysts say.

According to several senior European officials, intelligence agencies in different Western countries have concluded that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is negotiating in bad faith and attempting to use the talks to secure gains he has failed to achieve on the battlefield, The Wall Street Journal emphasizes.

The article also states that a ceasefire is not yet in sight. According to senior European officials, the war could last another one to three years.

However, some U.S. officials hope that a peace agreement could be reached before the U.S. midterm elections in November. But The Wall Street Journal, citing American officials, reports that Trump is not applying any additional pressure on the parties to reach a deal.

Instead, his administration is losing interest in the peace process and shifting its focus to negotiations with Iran and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.