CNN
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Without a doubt, the real battle in the Ukrainian War is not in the skies of Kiev and Dnipro, where the recent Russian drone strikes have been dramatically intensifying.
Nor have there been a slow, shattered progress made in how the current third year conflict is determined by Russian forces at the brutal frontline of eastern Ukraine.
No, the important battles drawn between fighting political parties and their allies are for the ears of President Donald Trump, who is increasingly unhappy with efforts to mediate peace.
And it may be such a crucial thing that his call was expected to be made with Russian President Vladimir Putin later today.
Moscow and Kiev are fighting for at least a while to show that they are others who are real obstacles to peace, hoping to shake up Trump’s changing opinions in their way.
European officials say they will talk to Trump ahead of his call with Putin. This is amid concerns that Trump’s view on the conflict may be shaped by his last speech.
After speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymie Zelensky at Pope Francis’ funeral last month, Trump made some of his most important remarks against Putin, denounced the Russian leader who launched a missile attack on Kiev, and could not say for certain whether the Russian leader was serious about ending the war.
As long as Monday’s call continues, Putin refused to accept the 30-day ceasefire that President Trump demanded and agreed to Ukraine – will have his own ears. He can work best for anything business induction, flattering, or poison Putin calculations.
Trump and Putin already seem to share an unwavering conviction that they are the only ones who have the personal authority and skills to resolve the Ukrainian war, but the Europeans and Ukrainians themselves ultimately do what they were told to do.
Last week, overwhelming talks in Turkey’s city of Istanbul, appear to underscore the central sense of the deal – President Trump himself – directly between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators for many years. By calling President Putin directly, he encouraged himself to reinsert himself into the peace efforts he had recently threatened to leave.
The big fear in Ukraine is that the two leaders cook their own peace plans over the phone with President Trump, who he says will then call Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky – could attempt to impose Putin’s conditions under the new threat of withdrawing important US economic aid.
President Trump also has leverage if he chooses to use it. With casualties and a tense economy, the Kremlin undoubtedly wants to restore US support for Ukrainian war efforts and not push Trump forward, who was angrily rejected to double down.
As always, the problem remains that both Russia and Ukraine are willing to accept each other’s minimum conditions in order to compromise to the extent that it will satisfy the other side.
That doesn’t mean that in person, face to face or telephone conversations are pointless. If there’s nothing else, they can emphasize how far they are actually between them.
But what this means is that even under US pressure, both Moscow and Kiev may still choose to fight, even after a direct call with President Trump.
