MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. The US and Ukraine presented a condensed peace proposal to Russian representatives in the UAE; lifting sanctions on Russia will need unanimous EU approval; and Washington presses Caracas by labeling the Cartel de los Soles a terrorist group to force political change. These stories topped Wednesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Vedomosti: Condensed peace proposal circulated to Russian representatives amid renewed negotiation efforts
Negotiations between the United States and Ukraine on the American peace plan continued in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 24-25, following a round held in Geneva on November 23. The Financial Times (FT) was the first to report on November 25, citing sources, about US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll’s trip to Abu Dhabi, almost simultaneously with Politico and CBS News. The New York Times reported that two other prominent American negotiators - Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steven Witkoff - did not fly from Switzerland to the UAE. Experts argue that Washington may be using symbolic, informal negotiations to pressure Moscow towards concessions, Vedomosti writes.
According to FT, Driscoll is conducting talks with head of Ukraine's military intelligence Kirill Budanov (listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist), as well as with some Russian representatives. Axios, citing sources, reported that Russia was allegedly represented by the "head of military intelligence," without specifying a name.
Driscoll’s talks are most likely unofficial, head of the Ukraine Department of the Institute of CIS Countries Ivan Skorikov told Vedomosti. In his view, the choice of the US negotiator carries particular symbolic significance: before any official high-level meeting, Washington may seek to signal readiness to "appease" Moscow and secure concessions on several points of the peace plan. Moreover, a meeting between American and Russian representatives in the UAE is likely intended to outline the steps both sides would take should the peace process collapse by the end of November.
According to Politico, Driscoll’s objective in the UAE was to present to Russian officials the peace plan that the United States and Ukraine discussed on November 23, which has been reduced from 28 points "to roughly 19." Lavrov had earlier said that Russian authorities had only received the unofficial version of Trump’s 28-point plan and had not seen any other drafts.
Russian authorities consider it appropriate to discuss only the document agreed upon in Alaska, Skorikov noted. "Therefore, the Europeans’ proposals are not subject to discussion, as they would merely delay the peace process," he said.
Izvestia: EU to coordinate potential sanctions relief for Russia with US
Lifting sanctions on Russia will require consensus within the European Union and coordination with the United States, a Member of the European Parliament told Izvestia. The timeline and mechanism for any potential rollback of restrictions have not yet been determined, but such a provision appears in both the American and the European versions of the peace plan for Ukraine. At the same time, the European Union will retain the legal framework enabling it to impose restrictions, and the process of lifting them could be hindered by individual EU member states opposed to normalizing relations with Moscow, experts noted.
"EU decisions on sanctions traditionally require unanimous approval by the member states. At the same time, the EU continues to work in close cooperation with the United States and other international partners to maintain a unified and coordinated approach," Tomas Zdechovsky, a Member of the European Parliament from the largest and leading group, the European People’s Party, told Izvestia. At present, however, there is no clear timeline for easing the restrictive measures, he said.
Ivan Timofeev, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), told Izvestia that the European Union will not abandon the legal mechanisms governing the imposition of sanctions against Russia. This means Brussels will be able to reinstate restrictions against Russia at any moment, even those that may be lifted.
"In other words, Council of the EU Regulations No. 833/2014 and No. 269/2014 will remain in force. We see this, in particular, with the example of Belarus, against which the EU has imposed sanctions since 2004. Periodically they ease them, but the legal mechanisms behind these sanctions are never abolished," the analyst told Izvestia.
Since 2022, the European Union has adopted 19 sanctions packages, and preparations for a new set of restrictions are already underway. In addition, sanctions introduced in 2014 remain in effect. The EU’s promise to lift restrictions "gradually" appears too vague for now, Valdai Club expert Andrey Kortunov told the newspaper.
"There are so many sanctions - tens of thousands, that it is always possible to find certain measures that can be easily lifted by an executive decision in the United States or the European Union. Some sanctions require approval from legislative bodies, and others require bilateral consultations and agreements," he told Izvestia. "The key question, therefore, is what exactly is meant by sanctions relief: which sanctions are being lifted, in what sequence, and to what extent the decision can be considered universal," he added.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Trump seeks to pressure Venezuela’s leadership into negotiations
A decision by the US Department of State to designate the so-called Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization has taken effect. According to US authorities, this drug cartel is allegedly headed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro himself. The move steps up pressure on the leadership of the Latin American country. As CNN reported, President Donald Trump intends to force Maduro from office without resorting to military action. Experts interviewed by Nezavisimaya Gazeta argue Maduro’s departure remains unlikely.
The designation of the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization, the US administration stated, expands the range of maneuver available to American authorities. Counterterrorism operations provide a mechanism that allows the United States to justify actions that might otherwise be viewed as violations of international law. This applies both to the possibility of direct intervention in Venezuela and to strikes on vessels in the Caribbean region, which began in September of this year and have already resulted in more than 80 deaths.
The decision is also intended to increase psychological pressure on Maduro. CNN wrote, citing a well-informed source, that Trump hopes to achieve a change of regime in Venezuela without resorting to military action.
According to Dmitry Rozental, Director of the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Maduro’s voluntary departure from office currently appears unlikely. "This would be the optimal outcome for the US: securing certain concessions from Venezuela without the use of military force. This is because an operation would entail significant costs for the United States - militarily and in terms of the political fallout, given that it would be met negatively in many Latin American countries. Therefore, the US would prefer to resolve everything through a negotiating process. Another matter is whether Maduro himself and his inner circle are prepared for this," the expert told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The potential negotiating process being discussed in the media could involve a number of concessions from Venezuela. "In the oil and economic spheres, this could mean certain privileges for American capital and replacing Russian and Chinese businesses. But this is a scenario in which the chavistas would be taking a major risk by relying solely on the United States," he said.
In the political sphere, the discussion could concern the activities of branches of US government agencies on Venezuelan territory, primarily the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Rozental believes. Such measures would hardly provide tangible benefits to Washington, but they would at least constitute a demonstrative gesture signaling strengthened US influence in the region.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Funding, security concerns loom over Kiev’s discussion of potential armed forces size under US proposal
As discussions of Washington’s peace plan continue, Kiev has also entered into debate over the potential peacetime size of its Armed Forces. Figures of 600,000, 800,000, and even 1 mln service members are being circulated. Yet maintaining "an army of one million" under peacetime conditions would inevitably push Ukraine into default, analysts inside the country warn.
According to experts interviewed by Nezavisimaya Gazeta, a million-strong Ukrainian army would be financially ruinous, strategically unacceptable to Russia, and that any realistic security arrangement should involve troop levels closer to pre-conflict norms and include broader international participation.
Back in late January, speaking with journalists at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Vladimir Zelensky said that without such security guarantees as an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO or the deployment of foreign contingents on its territory, Kiev would need to expand its army to 1 mln troops. Since Ukraine does not have the necessary funds, he added, European countries would have to cover the upkeep of the armed forces.
The question of financing such decisions is far from theoretical—especially at a time when Washington has announced the cessation of financial support for Kiev. And in European capitals, which had previously debated how to transfer nearly $300 bln in frozen Russian assets concentrated in the European Union, leaders must now also contend with another provision of the US plan that would effectively place control of those funds under their authority.
Evgeny Semibratov, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the proposed troop levels of 600,000, 800,000, or 1 mln in the Ukrainian Armed Forces are clearly unacceptable from Russia’s perspective. "By the way, some time ago President Vladimir Putin mentioned that during the Istanbul negotiations in spring 2022, Moscow insisted on the Ukrainian Armed Forces troop level of 250,000-300,000. If we look at what this number was before the military conflict triggered by the 2014 coup, we find that under then-President Viktor Yanukovych the Ukrainian army numbered 230,000-250,000. Therefore, the level that appears adequate today would be 200,000-250,000 troops. This would allow the Ukrainian state to carry out its necessary functions, but would exclude the formation of a new military fist threatening Russia’s security," Semibratov emphasized.
The expert also noted that Russia and Global South countries should be included in the ongoing discussions surrounding potential security guarantees for Ukraine.
Izvestia: Ramoco Fuels seeks to lease Lukoil’s 194 US gas stations for $150 mln
US company Ramoco Fuels intends to lease all 194 Lukoil gas stations located in the United States. The total value of the transaction is $150 mln, with the purchase to be completed no later than December 31, 2027, sources familiar with the American proposal told Izvestia. Experts characterize it as relatively modest, estimating the discount at roughly 50-70%. The Russian company may decline the offer.
According to one of the sources, Ramoco is proposing a 24-month master lease that would automatically convert into the purchase of Lukoil’s entire US retail fuel business "as soon as all regulatory, environmental, and franchising requirements have been met."
Sofya Lukinova, head of the legal department at VMT Consult, told Izvestia that a lease-to-own arrangement could be viewed as a reasonably balanced solution that would allow foreign operations to continue until sanctions are lifted. "Funds received under the lease agreement would also be blocked in a special account unless OFAC authorizes their use for operational needs," she added.
Experts consider Ramoco Fuels’ proposal rather modest. According to the industry portal InfoTEK, the cost of a single gas station in Europe typically ranges between €2 mln and €3 mln. The price depends on numerous factors, including location, station size, traffic volume, the presence of a convenience store, and various additional services such as a car wash or service station.
Olga Orlova, head of the Industry Department at the Institute of Oil and Gas Technology, stressed that each gas station’s valuation is highly individual and depends on many variables, but Ramoco Fuels’ offer can clearly be considered below market, representing a discount of approximately 50-70%.
In Orlova’s view, the buyer’s proposed structure is generally workable. However, if the Russian company considers the amount insufficient, the offer will simply be turned down. It is also possible, she concluded, that all the assets will ultimately be sold to a single investor, in which case Ramoco Fuels would have to negotiate with that buyer and present a higher price.
TASS is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews