Putin and Trump Envoy Witkoff Hold Five-Hour Kremlin Talks on Slimmed-Down Ukraine Peace Plan

Major power wars often end only after direct talks between principals—think the 1973 Paris Peace Accords after the secret Kissinger–Le Duc Tho meetings (1970–73). This encounter likewise sidelines European capitals, echoing 1944’s Churchill–Stalin “percentages agreement” that pre-empted allied input. Structurally, it signals two trends: Washington’s growing preference for back-channel, personality-driven deals, and Moscow’s attempt to fracture the U.S.–EU front by entertaining an American-only track. Whether the meeting matters in a century depends on if it becomes Minsk-III (a forgotten truce) or the moment the post-1991 European security map was redrawn. For now, both sides stage-manage leaks—denouncing “megaphone diplomacy” while feeding the press—underscoring that the information battlefield remains as contested as the physical one.