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Negotiations brokered by the United States for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine appeared to move closer to a deal over the weekend and on Monday, as U.S. negotiators met with representatives from both countries.

On Sunday, American representatives met with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible extension of the limited 30-day ceasefire that was agreed to by Moscow and Kyiv last week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated that “he would also like to see infrastructure like railways and ports protected,” and the U.S. will meet Monday with Russian officials to potentially agree to a pause in attacks in the Black Sea in order to assure the security of commercial shipping.

An actual end to hostilities on the ground appears to be elusive, however, as both sides continued to exchange drone and missile attacks despite last week’s ceasefire agreement. Over the weekend, seven civilians were killed across Ukraine as a result of Russian missiles. Russia further reported that “their air defences had shot down 59 Ukrainian drones targeting the nation’s southwestern areas,” resulting in one civilian casualty.

Still, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz expressed hope that after a plan to cease attacks in the Black Sea can be agreed upon, a broader ceasefire can be arranged. “Then we’ll talk about the line of control, which is the actual front lines, and that gets into the details of verification mechanisms, peacekeeping, you know, freezing the lines where they are,” he remarked during CBS News’s Face the Nation. “And then, of course, the broader and permanent peace, which will be some type of discussion of territory for permanent peace.”

The war, which began in February 2022 after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, has cost Putin’s regime an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 soldiers. An estimate by Zelensky in December put the total number of Ukrainian troops killed at 43,000. The number of Ukrainian civilians who have been killed since the end of January is thought to be over 12,000.

Propaganda

Meanwhile, during an interview before the meetings in Saudi Arabia, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who is serving as President Donald Trump’s chief negotiator in the conflict, appeared to echo arguments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainians in the eastern part of the country sympathise with Russia. He stated that the vast majority of people in the four eastern oblasts of Ukraine “want to be under Russian rule”, referencing “Kremlin-run referendums in those areas that the European Union and the U.S. have denounced as shams”, as noted by The Wall Street Journal.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob Maginnis, senior fellow for National Security at Family Research Council, insisted that rhetoric arguing that residents of eastern Ukraine desire Russian rule cannot be trusted. “I hesitate to believe a man with a gun to his head,” he emphasised. “That is the condition of the people in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.”

Maginnis continued, “The Ukrainian people in the four eastern oblasts — Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia — have suffered great loss of life, health, wealth, and freedom, and many others fled the region. However, those who stayed behind and now live under iron-fisted Russian commissars did cast ballots that favoured Russian annexation, according to Moscow. However, I suspect those terrorised people did so not because they favour Moscow over Kyiv, but they wanted peace, and accepting the status quo — Russian occupation — was at the time the shortest path back to something akin to peace.”

Maginnis went on to posit that “Steve Witkoff reports what President Trump wants to hear. Colour me sceptical about reports the occupied Ukrainians really favour Moscow over Kyiv. I doubt an independent group canvased citizens in the eastern provinces to ascertain their views about remaining a Russian vessel as opposed to returning to Ukrainian sovereignty. Rather, my guess is the notion the occupied Ukrainians favour Russia is Kremlin propaganda.”

Nevertheless, Maginnis concluded by admitting that “the latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war are encouraging. A ceasefire on the energy infrastructure and commercial shipping fronts are both positive developments. Hopefully, that will lead to a broader ceasefire, a view Witkoff expressed in an interview with Fox News. Alternatively, there is the chance that perspective might just be Putin’s way of giving Trump something for his troubles, and meanwhile, the war continues. Let us pray for peace!”