Quality of mediation is a major issue in the Ukrainian peace process

Putin has deliberately focused his game of no-deal on gaining full control over Donbas knowing how sensitive is the territorial control question for the Ukrainians and how insignificant it appears for the US mediators. In reality, he doesn’t need the unoccupied twenty per cent of the devastated Donetsk region and cherishes the vision of a Russia-US entente that dissolves the trans-Atlantic unity and leaves Ukraine in limbo. A different team of mediators with a deeper understanding of these ambitions is needed for countering Putin’s game plan, but still bringing the war to an end. The arrangement that Trump’s envoys are hammering out by putting hard pressure on Ukraine and offering various incentives to Putin will constitute a major breach in the European security system, which can only be reinforced by a fast rehabilitation of Ukraine and its firm anchoring to the EU and NATO by reliable security ties.