Yesterday, Sunday night, the U.S. technical delegation met with representatives from Ukraine to get deeper into specifics of what Ukraine wants for a ceasefire.  The meetings are taking place in Saudi Arabia.

The Ukrainian delegation was led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.  Heorhii Tykhyi, foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Friday the Ukrainian and American sides were due “to clarify the modalities, the nuances of possible different ceasefire regimes, how to monitor them, how to control them, in general, what is included in their scope”.

Following the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation who, together with elements of the CIA/EU and NATO – visibly appear to hold a desire to continue the war (and funding therein), the U.S delegation is scheduled to meet with their Russian counterparts today (Monday).

SAUDI ARABIA – […] Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the Ukraine-Russia conflict were “somewhat under control”. The U.S. hopes to reach a broad ceasefire within weeks, targeting a truce agreement by April 20, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.

Russian and U.S. experts meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday are due to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea, the Kremlin has said.

Despite all the diplomatic activity, Russia and Ukraine have both reported continued strikes, while Russian forces have also continued to advance slowly in eastern Ukraine, a region Moscow claims to have annexed.  (read more)

As soon as details can be worked out, hopefully sooner rather than later, President Trump can then schedule a face-to-face meeting with the unelected leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With everything currently happening in Turkey –HOT MESS– we can well imagine President Trump wants to speed up this timeline of a ceasefire in Ukraine so that he can enlist Russian President Vladimir Putin on other matters.

A looming realignment is on the horizon in the middle east as Turkey, Syria, Iran and Machiavellian Qatar along with the CIA are likely to form a coalition (pro Muslim Brotherhood group).  This creates an opportunity for President Trump, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Russia to form a counterbalance alliance.

Russia and the USA working together in the middle east would be a game changer.

Vladimir Putin already has good relations with Mohammed bin Salman (Saudi) and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Egypt).  Putin can create the ability for President Trump to bridge the diplomatic gap with Iran.  On the other side of that dynamic, Qatar, Syria, Israel, the CIA and Turkey would not like a Russia-USA peace alignment like that.

Of course, all of this geopolitical positioning is contingent upon getting the issues within the Ukraine-Russia conflict resolved quickly.  However, the NATO group (sans USA), the European Union, United Kingdom and CIA are in no hurry to resolve the conflict, and the officials (including Zelenskyy) within the Ukraine government do not want their financial indulgences to end.

The technical negotiation teams may be discussing the challenging stuff about how to secure a ceasefire, but the background motives for the Ukrainian elements are not necessarily aligned with peace as their best personal option.

The post U.S, Ukraine and Russian Technical Negotiation Teams Meet in Saudi Arabia appeared first on The Last Refuge.

[H/T Conservative Tree House]