It suits the Kremlin to have Washington believe that a deal with Putin is just around the corner. One more meeting, one more concession, one more phone call. And while the Americans wait for a peace deal, Russia keeps waging war. Russia gets concessions. Ukraine gets pressure. Kushner has again demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries. This works well for the Kremlin: Washington is already making concessions to Russia while demanding concrete concessions from Ukraine. As long as Moscow keeps hopes of a deal alive, the US may hold off on new sanctions and persuade Kyiv to accept additional terms for the sake of successful negotiations. Talks can go on forever. Even while the war continues. Discussing a new document or a possible summit allows American mediators to report progress toward peace. Russia retains direct access to Washington and the opportunity to sell its version of why the war began and what it would take to end it. No luck with peace? Let’s talk business. Dmitriev has reported discussions about joint projects, including nuclear-powered data centers. Walking away from the talks would then mean giving up the benefits the US administration hopes to gain. Open-ended demands allow Moscow to keep bargaining. Without a definitive list of Russian conditions, every round can end with statements about progress and the need for further consultations. Meanwhile, Moscow can keep adding demands. Take Putin’s October 16 statement about a “security zone” in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, which he does not intend to discuss in peace negotiations. Russia maintains an additional territorial demand while simultaneously signaling its willingness to meet with the US. In St. Petersburg, watch what Russia actually agrees to do. Which strikes will it stop? When? Who will verify this? What security guarantees for Ukraine will it accept? Without this, another “very constructive conversation” will simply mean the Americans have had their hopes raised again. They will leave to prepare for the next meeting, and Russia will keep waging war.

Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Zhybrov, commander of an aviation squadron of Ukraine's 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. Oleksandr lost his life on February 24, 2022, helping to slow the Russian advance - he steered his damaged Su-25 toward a column of Russian occupiers. Oleksandr gave his life so Ukraine could fight. I am sharing this story because I want to emphasize that Russia did not capture Ukraine in three days not because Russia "got stuck in the mud" or something like that - Russia didn't take Ukraine because Ukraine refused to be taken and we fought with everything we had, and have been fighting ever since. From the first minutes of Russia's full-scale invasion, Oleksandr organized the relocation of his squadron and its equipment to a designated operational airfield to protect them from Russian strikes. Later that day, Zhybrov was among the first Ukrainian pilots to engage Russian forces from the air. Oleksandr flew a Su-25 ground-attack aircraft over Kherson region. His mission was to stop Russian forces advancing from temporarily occupied Crimea. Near Chaplynka, Zhybrov dropped bombs on a Russian military column. He then spotted engineering vehicles used to establish river crossings and decided to launch a second attack. During the attack, his Su-25 was hit by Russian air defenses. With his aircraft on fire and nearly uncontrollable, Oleksandr steered it directly into the remaining Russian vehicles. He attempted to eject, but there was not enough altitude for a safe ejection. Eternal memory and eternal glory to Ukrainian Hero.

18 countries have declined to participate in the U-15 World Cup after Russia was allowed to compete. Thank you for support, friends! Representatives of all 211 FIFA member associations, including Russia, were invited to the tournament in Azerbaijan. The U-15 tournament will mark the first international FIFA event to include a Russian team since its suspension from all competitions at the start of the full-scale invasion. The event is being widely ignored by European nations and major global federations: 18 UEFA representatives: Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, the Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, and San Marino-as well as the US national team, have refused to participate. Meanwhile, some participating countries reported that while they will attend, they will refuse to play against Russia. 📷U-15 team/The Ukrainian Association of Football