BERLIN, January 24. /TASS/. At this point, Ukraine can only chose between two variants, with one of them being "negative," and the other - "even more negative," the Berliner Zeitung newspaper wrote.
"Currently, only two outcomes are possible for Ukraine: one negative, and the other even more negative," the newspaper wrote without specifying what these two options implied.
The article says that Ukraine is "cornered," having to face internal problems, "the frontline that is falling apart," and, most importantly, the lack of support from US President Donald Trump.
"In the current situation, a peace agreement with Russia will be possible only if Ukraine is ready to make extreme concessions, and, in essence, to agree to all of Russia’s maximalist demands," the newspaper wrote.
Austrian political scientist and an expert on Eastern Europe, Gerhard Mangott, told the newspaper that the following "three things are inevitable for Ukraine" - territorial concessions, rejection of NATO membership and withdrawal of foreign troops.
"Anything else is absolutely unacceptable for Russia, and I don’t see any room for maneuver for the Kiev government," the expert said.
On January 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner, which was described as extremely substantive, constructive, frank, and based on trust by Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov. The talks, focused on the Ukrainian settlement, lasted about four hours.
The parties agreed that the first meeting of a Russia-US-Ukraine working group on security issues would take place in Abu Dhabi on January 23. On Friday, a source told TASS that the consultations were over, and the sides will inform their respective governments about the preliminary outcomes. At the same time, the participants have agreed to continue dialogue the following day.