The peace process, which was ongoing throughout the winter, has reached a critical juncture. Despite significant progress and the establishment of a solid foundation for settlement, Ukraine and Russia failed to reach a final compromise on key contentious issues. This was stated by Serhiy Kyslytsia, the First Deputy Head of the President's Office, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to the official, it was the military group working within the framework of the negotiations that ensured the process had every chance of success. However, as it turned out, technical and military solutions cannot be implemented without political will.

Verification and monitoring challenges

Kyslytsia explained that even if politicians resolve the most complex issues at the level of declarations, their implementation requires coordinated work on the ground. This involves not only the coordination of Ukrainian and Russian military forces but also the creation of a complex system for verifying and monitoring the fulfillment of agreements.

«It is impossible to agree on this in five minutes», — emphasized the representative of the President's Office. He noted that front-line monitoring is a high-tech process involving:

  • Satellite surveillance;
  • Aerial observation;
  • Use of electronic sensors.

Work on creating this system began with, seemingly, trivial matters — agreeing on vocabulary. The parties needed to reach a common understanding of terms such as «ceasefire» or «line of contact» to avoid misinterpretations in the future.

Achievements in Geneva and the role of the US

During the negotiations in Geneva, fundamental agreements were reached regarding the framework of the future verification system. An important factor was the confirmation from Donald Trump's team that the US would participate in this process.

However, despite these successes, the process «hit a wall» at the stage of the military group. Kyslytsia stated that military specialists had completed 90% of the work, but the remaining key issues require resolution exclusively at the political level.

Key figures and context

A special role in the negotiations was played by the Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andriy Hnatov, who, according to Kyslytsia, conducted negotiations on his side very successfully.

In the context of discussing the peace process, Kyslytsia also recalled the new meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump. Furthermore, he drew attention to the statements of Vladimir Putin's aide, who mentioned «Turkish and Swedish wars» during the negotiations, hinting at historical precedents.

The situation remains tense, especially against the backdrop of new ambiguous statements by US President Donald Trump regarding Ukraine and the RF, which add uncertainty to the further development of events.