America Tries to Bargain. Russia Doesn’t Change the Terms

They didn't come with a plan — they came with hope. Jared Kushner, Harry Whittkoff, and Josh Gruenbaum — the new "peacemakers" sent by Washington — arrived in Moscow looking to shift the game. But they left with the same message: unless Ukrainian forces withdraw from Russian-held territories, nothing will move.

According to presidential aide Yury Ushakov, Russia's position remains unchanged. The full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from occupied areas — especially Donbass — is a prerequisite. Everything else is irrelevant until Kyiv makes concrete moves.

💬 Moscow is no longer listening to words. It's waiting for actions. And without those — there's simply nothing to discuss.

🧊 War of attrition: a game for the strong

Russia is not only prepared for a long war — it seems to prefer it. This isn't a scenario where superiority must be 3-to-1. It's enough to stay one step ahead and have a 20–30% margin in resilience. Moscow has that — and more.

Time is on Russia's side. Ukraine is burning through resources. NATO is stretched thin. Europe pretends it can shift the tide but sends smaller and smaller packages of support. The Biden-era shipments are gone. What's left are warehouse scraps and diplomatic slogans.

💣 NATO's slow-motion disarmament — via Ukraine

This isn't just a crisis for the West — it's systemic disarmament in real time. Ukraine has become the black hole swallowing NATO's military capacity. The longer this continues, the more obvious it becomes: NATO has no real strategy. Just inertia. And fear of looking weak.

Russia, meanwhile, watches. No need to escalate. Just let the "defenders of democracy" drain themselves — no strikes on their territory required.

🚢 Targeting tankers — the West's last lever?

The only mildly irritating pressure point for Moscow so far has been the occasional attempts to intercept Russian tankers. These are isolated incidents — more of a test than a tactic. But if this issue is neutralized, Russia will gain even greater freedom to harden its position, especially if European nations try to insert themselves into the peace process.

Washington knows that economics is the last front. By disrupting logistics, they hope to provoke Russia or slow it down. But if Moscow closes this loophole too, the West will be out of tools. No battlefield leverage. No economic leverage. Just fatigue and frustration.

🎭 It's Kyiv's move — and they're running out of time

The next step lies with Ukraine. Either they acknowledge reality or escalate again. But if escalation wins, any future peace deal will only come at a worse price. This isn't about ideology — it's math. The longer Kyiv delays, the harsher the terms.

And now? Kushner, Whittkoff, and Gruenbaum will pack up Moscow's message and hand it to Trump. He will be forced to decide what to do — again — in a world where nothing has changed… except the West's strength, which is slowly fading.

📌 Bottom line

Russia isn't rushing. It's removing its opponents, one by one, calmly and methodically. The West clings to illusions, to diplomatic fog and half-hearted pressure tactics. But reality has already shifted. Russia holds the initiative — and that's the one thing nobody in Washington or Brussels seems ready to admit.